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WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 












WHY JEWS BECOME 
CATHOLICS 

AUTHENTIC NARRATIVES 


COMPILED AND EDITED BY 

ROSALIE MARIE LEVY 

4 

AUTHOR OF “THE HEAVENLY ROAD” 


PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 
14 EAST 29th STREET, 
NEW YORK. N. Y. 


PRICE ONE DOLLAR 



Copyright, 1924 
By Rosalie Marie Levy 
14 East 29th Street 
New York, N. Y. 


©CIA 808622 


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

NOV -3 *24 


TO 

OUR LADY OF SION 
THE MOTHER OF THE MESSIAS 
THE LILY OF ISRAEL 



CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION.. 

AT THE SEASHORE.1 

SAMUEL ROSENBERG, NEW YORK CITY. 

THROUGH READING “BEN HUR”.4 

ERNESTINE M. DAVIDSOHN, NEW YORK CITY. 

“THE WAY OF THE CROSS”.6 

ROSE MARY RAU, NEW YORK CITY. 

THE COMMANDS OF CHRIST.8 

GLADYS E. GILBERT, NEW YORK CITY. 

FROM SOCIALISM TO THE CHURCH—WHY I AM A 

CATHOLIC.12 

DAVID M. GOLDSTEIN, BOSTON, MASS. 

A SISTER OF CHARITY.26 

SISTER STANISLAUS (n6e PRISCILLA COHEN) 

NEW ORLEANS, LA. 

ON FLANDERS’ FIELD.28 

BY REV. P. E. HOEY, C.S.P. 

THE BISHOP’S WHITE FLOWER.30 

BY REV. RICHARD W. ALEXANDER 

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.40 

ANNA C. GOODMAN, DORCHESTER, MASS. 

UNITY OF FAITH AND DOCTRINE.43 

JOSEPH E. HENSCHEL, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 

A SISTER OF MERCY.46 

SISTER M. AQUIN 

THE POWER OF GOOD EXAMPLE.53 

ANDREW B. KLYBER, KIRKWOOD, MO. 

FROM A JESUIT MISSIONARY.57 

MY FIRST BAPTISM 
AN ENTIRE FAMILY BAPTIZED 
FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT 
BY REV. J. F. A., S.J. 









PAGE 

A SOLDIER OF CHRIST.65 

MINNIE CECILIA DEMBO, NEW YORK CITY. 

GOD’S CHOICEST GIFTS.71 

SISTER M. PHILIP 

A SPANISH CONVERT.79 

BY MSGR. PAYA Y RICO 

HOW I FOUND THE TRUE FAITH.81 

BROTHER ANTHONY. S. A. 

A RELIGION TO SATISFY THE LONGINGS OF MY 

SOUL.86 

E. M. B., NEW YORK CITY 


FULFILMENT OF AN EARLY DESIRE .... 88 

MRS. J. P. FANNING (nee FANNIE GUGGENHEIM), 

NEW YORK CITY. 


THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD . 

LILLIAN MARY JACKSON, CHICAGO, ILL. 

THE DAUGHTER OF A RABBI .... 
MRS. M. STRYKER, NEW YORK CITY. 

THE POWER OF GOOD BOOKS .... 
ADAH LAZARUS, NEW YORK CITY. 

THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE CHURCH . 

BY VERY REV. JOHN J. HUGHES, C.S.P. 

A TWOFOLD FAVOR OF OUR LADY . 

JACQUES WALCH, LYONS, FRANCE. 

A REDEMPTORIST PRIEST. 

REV. MARTIN GODEHARD HEPNER, C.SS.R. 

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. 

ROSE MARY GOLDSTEIN, NEWARK, N. J. 

AN ANSWER TO PRAYER. 

WALTER M. SOLOMON, CLEVELAND, OHIO. 

THE POWER OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT 
REV. HERMANN COHEN, HAMBURG, GERMANY. 


91 

96 

98 

104 

106 

110 

111 

114 

115 


A HAPPY DEATH.129 

NETTIE NUSSBAUM, NEW YORK CITY. 

THE ZEAL OF A JEWISH CONVERT.130 

MRS. CHARLES EICIIENBERG. EAST ORANGE, N. J. 


A FAVOR OF THE SACRED HEART.133 

SOPHIE FARKAS, CLEVELAND, OHIO. 






“THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE”. 

MRS. PETER McKENNEY (n£e SYLVIA COHEN), 
NEW YORK CITY. 

THROUGH THE STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY 

FATHER MARIE THEODORE RATISBONNE, 
STRASBURG, GERMANY. 

APPARITION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN 

FATHER MARIE ALPHONSE RATI SBONNE, 
STRASBURG, GERMANY. 

A CONVERT IN CHICAGO. 

SIMON S. ROTHSCHILD, CHICAGO, ILL. 

“AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM” . 

MRS. GEORGE SCIILESINGER, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 

A BENEDICTINE PRIEST. 

REV. HILARY ROSENFELD, O.S.B. 


PAGE 

. 135 

. 138 

. 148 

. 152 
. 154 
. 157 


“SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND”.166 

MRS. THEODORE KAVANAUGH (n<$e LILLIE MARKS), 

NEW YORK CITY. 

LIGHT THROUGH DEATH.168 

BARONESS FRANCHETTI. 

THE SON OF A RABBI.169 

FATHER FRANCIS MARY PAUL LI BERM ANN 

A CONVERT FROM BUDAPEST.173 

WILLIAM ALFRED RAKOS 

ON A VISIT TO LOURDES.174 

ISAAC LEVI SNITKIVSKI 

A DOMINICAN SISTER.176 

SISTER STELLA (n£e CECILIA HERMANN), 

NEW YORK CITY. 


A PARTIAL LIST OF JEWS WHO HAVE BECOME 
CATHOLICS.185 






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INTRODUCTION 


The majority of Jews today are religious people, 
that is, they believe in God, they hope in God, they 
trust in God, they love God. The Jews were God's 
chosen people. It was to Moses on Mt. Sinai that God 
gave the Ten Commandments, and throughout the 
entire Old Testament we find constantly recurring 
instances of God's special Providence over the Jews, 
or Israelites, as they were then styled. He raised up 
many men of wonderful genius and sanctity amongst 
them, called Prophets, who preached and performed 
miracles in both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. 
These Prophets foretold the coming of the Messias, 
that is to say, One anointed and sent from God to be 
their Saviour, their Redeemer. It was their constant 
aim to confirm the Mosaic covenant and through it 
to prepare Israel for the new Messianic dispensation. 
They revealed the details of the coming of the Mes¬ 
sias, of His descent from Abraham, His miracles, His 
life of suffering, His rejection by His own people, of 
the sacrifice of His life for their salvation, of the 
spirit and universality of His Kingdom. And Israel 
expected and longed for the coming of the Messias. 

At the time and place appointed by God, Jesus 
Christ, the Messias, was born—at Bethlehem in Judea 
—of the race of Abraham and the tribe of Judah. For 
thirty years He lived in obscurity, but when the time 

i 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


arrived that He should make known His Heavenly 
doctrine, He came forth and taught in the synagogues, 
in the cities and on the hillsides, in order that the 
people might learn the road they should travel and 
the things they should know and practise in order 
to reach Heaven. He did not claim to be merely a 
prophet, a holy man, one inspired by God; He claimed 
to be Divine, the true Son of God. And in order to 
prove the truth of these claims, Christ performed 
wondrous miracles: He cured the deaf, the dumb, the 
blind, the lame; He raised the dead to life. 

Some will say, “Why, then, did not the Jews accept 
Jesus Christ as the Messias?” A great many did, as 
will be seen in the following pages, but countless 
others refused to believe. These latter confounded 
the two sets of prophecies regarding the Messias— 
those relating to His first coming and those relating 
to His second. Those of His first coming show Him 
to be a “Man of Sorrows, a Leper, One struck by God 
and afflicted/” while those of His second coming show 
Him to be “a great King coming in glory.” Most of 
the Jews thought that the Messias was to be a great 
King of this world who would make their nation 
the grandest on earth, and bestow upon them in abun¬ 
dance honors, riches, power, and all the pleasant 
things of this life. When He came poor and lowly, 
a “Man of Sorrows,” a King indeed, but not of this 
world, they refused to acknowledge Him as the Mes¬ 
sias foretold by the prophets. 

Since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 
and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 
A. D., as was prophesied by Christ, the Jews have 

ii 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


had no Temple, no Prophet, no High Priest, no Sacri¬ 
fice. While it is true that they have built magnificent 
synagogues in the various countries in which they are 
scattered, they have retained nothing of the ritual and 
ceremonies solemnly enjoined by the Law of Moses. 
They have an altar, upon which no sacrifices are 
offered; they have rabbis, but these lack priestly con¬ 
secration. For according to the Mosaic Law de¬ 
scendants of Aaron alone were admitted to the priestly 
office, to the exclusion of all the other children of 
Israel; whereas in the choice of rabbis no notice is 
taken of this sacred law. (Num. 3:10.) 

Therefore the Jews must either admit that the Mes- 
sias has come, or else give the lie to Israel’s own 
history in the days of her greatest glory, and reject 
as empty superstition the religion that Israel pro¬ 
fessed when God was most manifestly near her. For 
the sceptre has passed, and long ago passed, from 
Judah, and the weeks of Daniel, however they be 
computed, have certainly run their course. Unless 
the Messias has come, Jewish history is inexplicable 
and Jewish prophecy void. But if He has come, He 
has come only in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
for He and His |Church do fulfil the prophecies and 
give the capstone to Jewish history. Nothing else 
does. He alone can be the Messias. All the other 
claimants were but sorry competitors for the title. 
All were impostors, for they had not the character¬ 
istics of the Messias, and moreover they failed dis¬ 
astrously, whereas the Messianic Kingdom remains 
forever. 

In His sermon on the Mount, Christ said: “Do not 
ill 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 

think that I am come to destroy the Law, or the 
Prophets . I am not come to destroy hut to fulfil” 
(Matt. 5:17.) Therefore, the Jew who becomes a 
Catholic, i. e., who accepts Jesus Christ as the Messias 
together with all the doctrines which He taught to 
Peter and the other Apostles, doctrines which have 
been handed down to us through all the centuries by 
Peter and his successors in the Apostolic Chair, does 
not give up anything of the positive content of his 
Jewish beliefs; he supplements them with the riches 
of the revelation made by Christ; just as the Jews who 
listened to Isaias and the other prophets had to give 
up nothing of what they had learned from Moses but 
only increased their former knowledge by additional 
truth. Moses indeed bids the Jews to accept one like 
unto himself whom God would send, and whom they 
were to hear and obey (Deut. 18:15-20). In hearing 
and obeying Him, then, they do not and can not go 
against anything that Moses taught, they only enrich 
that former limited truth with increased knowledge. 
They become, through Moses, disciples and followers 
of Jesus, believing in Him as the Saviour of the world 
and accepting all of His teachings as Divine. He will 
give the grace to believe to all who ask for it. He 
has said: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek , and 
you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you/' 
(Matt. 7:7.) 

The brief authentic biographies that form this book 
have been compiled to show why these Jews embraced 
the Catholic faith, to point out the means God used 
in bringing them into the Church, and to give light 
and encouragement to others who may be seeking the 
iv 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


truth. Most of the narratives are in the actual words 
of the converts themselves; others are from the pens 
of their personal friends, or are derived from authen¬ 
tic sources by the editor, whose ardent hope and 
prayer it is that all who may read this work will 
ask God for the grace to do His holy will, for the light 
to reach the Heavenly Road* and for the grace and 
courage to give up all, if necessary, in order to follow 
the Lamb along this Road, for having followed Him 
in this world, they will share in His glory and happi¬ 
ness in the life to come. 

Rosalie Marie Levy. 

* “The Heavenly Road” is the title of a little book pub¬ 
lished in 1909 by the present writer. It shows how the 
prophecies of the Old Law have been fulfilled in the Person of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, and how He established a Church— 
the Catholic Church—in which His grace is administered 
through the Sacraments. The book may be obtained from the 
Author at 14 East 29th Street, New York City, for 25 cents a 
copy. 


T 


“O Jesus, light of all below! 

Thou fount of life and fire! 
Surpassing all the joys we know, 

All that we can desire! 

“May every heart confess Thy Name, 
And ever Thee adore; 

And seeking Thee, itself inflame 
To seek Thee more and more.” 


AT THE SEASHORE 
Samuel Rosenberg, 

Bronx, New York City. 

I was born of Jewish parents and educated strictly 
as an Orthodox Jew. I was firmly convinced of the 
truth of the Jewish religion, living my life in accord¬ 
ance with its tenets and precepts. My business for 
many years has brought me into close contact with 
Catholics, the most of them faithful to the obligations 
of their religion, a few of them careless and indiffer¬ 
ent. There was, however, one distinguishing character¬ 
istic they all possessed. Though I have been closely 
associated with hundreds of Catholics, I have never 
met one who would eat meat on a Friday; I have never 
heard one even attempt to defend his failure to live 
up to his religious duties; I have never known one who 
was proud or boasted of his delinquencies and human 
weaknesses; I have never come in contact with one 
who did not insist that the better Catholic a man is, 
the better all-around man he must necessarily be. 

For many years this mental attitude of Catholics 
has undoubtedly been exercising a beneficent effect 
upon me. Still, it was not until 1922 that I first thought 
of inquiring into the doctrines of the Church with the 
possibility of becoming a Catholic if I could convince 
myself, or, perhaps I should say, be convinced of their 
truth. 


1 


2 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


The incident that gave me the necessary impetus 
toward the Church is as follows: 

One day in August, 1922, I went to Coney Island, 
intending to spend the day bathing and strolling on 
the beach. As I walked into the surf my attention 
was attracted by a group of boys, forty or fifty in 
number, gathered about a man, who looked to be 
scarcely more than a boy himself. He was tall and 
straight, a perfect specimen of manhood, with a 
shaggy head of coal-black hair crowning a strong, 
clean, handsome face which actually radiated character 
and mentality. The boys, in high glee, were crowd¬ 
ing around him, splashing him with water, and ask¬ 
ing him to hold his hands for them to step on to be 
tossed over his head for a dive. This he did for one 
boy after another, enjoying their clumsy falls into the 
water even more than the boys themselves enjoyed 
them. I made bold to draw nearer and hearing the 
boys address the man as “Father,” I concluded that 
he was a priest. To enter into conversation with him 
was not difficult and soon we were chatting on the 
friendliest terms. At his invitation, I joined the party 
at the dinner table and never have I experienced a 
more delightful hour. There was a continuous roar of 
laughter; merry quips and harmless jokes were passed 
so quickly that I found myself actually suffering pain 
from my shaking sides. 

And at all times there was between the priest and 
his youthful charges an affectionate familiarity, with¬ 
out a semblance of restraint, yet without a semblance 
of disrespect or lack of deference on the part of the 
boys. Then and there the thought flashed in and 
out of my mind that I should immediately inquire 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


3 


into the Catholic religion. As we rode home in 
the bus, I told the priest of my intention. Quietly 
and kindly he gave me helpful suggestions. The next 
day I called upon another priest and after six months 
of instruction I was baptized. 

It seems strange to me that I should have been at¬ 
tracted to the Church by the play of a crowd of noisy 
youngsters at Coney Island. But nothing is strange 
to God. I can only thank the Almighty for His good¬ 
ness. 


THROUGH READING “BEN HUR” 
Ernestine M. Davidsohn, 

New York City. 

For ten years I belonged to a Fraternal Insurance 
Society, which is founded on the book of “Ben Hur 
—A Tale of the Christ.” 

The ritual and degree work of this Society is taken 
from chapters in the book. As an officer of our court 
or lodge, it was necessary for me to become familiar 
with all the characters and to this end I read and re¬ 
read “Ben Hur” until I almost memorized it. 

During this time I became convinced that the 
“Christ” Ben Hur followed must be the Redeemer 
that had been promised to the Jews. I would not 
give up Judaism, however, until I was positively sure 
it could not satisfy my search and longing for religion. 
Every Friday night therefore found me in the Syna¬ 
gogue, but when I came out from the service there 
was always the feeling that it was unfinished; that 
there was only a promise but no fulfilment. 

On |Christmas eve, 1922, a friend took me to mid¬ 
night Mass. It was most impressive and, although I 
did not understand what it was all about, I had the 
same feeling that I had had on a former occasion 
when I made a visit to a Catholic church with some 
other friends. I wanted to kneel and pray, something, 
of course, which no Jewish person does. 

4 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


5 


Later, in the spring, I was given a catechism and 
a small booklet “How to become a Catholic.” After 
reading them and attending Solemn High Mass on 
Palm Sunday, I asked to be introduced to a priest so 
that the doubts still in my mind might be cleared up. 
That same evening I received my first instruction and 
seven weeks later, on the eve of Pentecost, May 19, 
1923, at seven o’clock in the morning, just after the 
waters had been blessed, I was baptized and immedi¬ 
ately afterwards received our Lord in Holy Com¬ 
munion for the first time. 

I feel that God has been very good to me in leading 
me to the true Faith and so I am trying to help others 
to see the light. 


“THE WAY OF THE CROSS” 

Rose Mary Rau, 

New York City. 

I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the eldest of four 
girls, being afflicted from birth with paralysis of my 
entire body. I received my education with the Sisters 
of Notre Dame de Namur, whom I loved very much. 
While attending school it was my desire to become a 
Catholic. The Sisters thought it was on account of 
my having been in their company so long and refused 
to permit me to take the step. 

In 1903, a year after I left school, my family moved 
to New York. Still having the desire to embrace the 
Catholic Faith I met some Sisters of Charity in 1904, 
who showed a great interest in me. In 1905 I was 
introduced to Father Fagan, S. J., now deceased, whom 
I called on weekly in regard to my conversion. On 
account of my physical condition it was impossible 
for me to make my own livelihood and as Father was 
fearful that my parents would disown me if I em¬ 
braced the Catholic Faith he refused to baptize me. 
He died suddenly and then I met Father Martin J. 
Scott, S. J. As he found that I was well instructed 
in regard to the Catholic religion, he administered the 
Sacrament of Baptism two weeks later on All Saints 
Day, 1906, in the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, and 
on December 15th I received the “Bread of Life” for 
6 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


7 


the first time in the little convent chapel of the Sisters 
of Charity. Two years afterwards I was confirmed by 
the late Bishop Cusack. 

I never realized that one could find such happiness 
and peace of soul in this world as has been vouchsafed 
to me. I did not make my conversion known to my 
family, but was faithful in the observance of all my new 
religious duties. It was about three years later that 
my parents heard of the step I had taken, but they 
never tried to prevent my attending the Catholic 
Church, realizing how much happiness it afforded me. 
All of my Jewish friends have remained faithful and 
loyal to me. 

It has only been with the grace of God that I have 
been able to carry the heavy crosses God has sent me, 
each one of which has strengthened me in my faith 
and confidence in Him. He gives us an opportunity 
in this way of proving our love for Him, and when 
we consider how much He suffered for us—even to 
the death of the cross—we realize that our trials can¬ 
not compare with the great agony of our Divine Re¬ 
deemer. They make us in some small way more like 
unto Him and draw us closer to His Sacred Heart. 

It is my prayer that all who read this may be 
blessed with the gift of faith, so that they too may 
enter the one true Fold. 


THE COMMANDS OF CHRIST 
Gladys E. Gilbert, 

New York City. 

My conversion has always seemed to me to have 
developed so naturally and slowly that I was not, so 
to say, surprised to see a rose, where there had been 
a bud. 

Our family is not an Orthodox one; it is what the 
modern generation calls Reformed. After my father's 
death, which left me an orphan, I was given the choice 
of either going to the Academy of St. Elizabeth or to 
a French boarding school. I chose St. Elizabeth’s be¬ 
cause it had impressed me so when I had visited a 
younger cousin there a few months before. At the 
time of the visit I little knew that the day would come 
when I too would share in such pure inspiration. As 
I returned, I peered through the window of the train 
at the substantial buildings of the Convent, and 
wondered if ever I should come again. I wanted a 
chance to live in such an atmosphere. 

One morning after I entered, the younger children 
were clothed in white and I saw the quiet eagerness 
of their beautiful little faces with wide open eyes. I 
had been told a few days before that they were going 
to receive their First Holy Communion. I remember 
kneeling very still and keeping my eyes fixed on them 
during the ceremony. Then my eyes filled with tears 

8 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


9 


and I prayed harder than I thought I could pray, as 
I desired to be one of them. After a while I was 
fortified and knew that if I really wanted to become 
a Catholic, there would be a way. 

I felt an admiration growing within me for the 
Catholic Church, and the manifestation of faith within 
her domain. I loved to go to church; I loved the 
prayers and songs and the purity they breathed forth 
upon her children, and before many months had passed 
I longed to be one of them,—and then I prayed to be 
one of them. It was not only the Church, but the 
example of those who were of the Church—their love 
of humanity, their goodness and purity—that increased 
that longing. 

My relatives noticed the change in me and feared 
that I would become a Catholic. I did not then have 
the moral courage to say “I shall become a Catholic.” 
I did not want to displease them, as they had cared 
for me ever since I was a little girl of eight years. 
I was then thirteen. I dreaded most to bring any 
sorrow to them, to make them feel that I did not 
appreciate their care of me. They believe in permitting 
a child to express itself, so they did not want to lay 
down a law as to my belief and religious practice, 
but they did say they thought “that the Convent en¬ 
couraged or influenced non-Catholics towards Cath¬ 
olicism to which I stoutly objected, saying that no 
one had tried to influence me; it was wholly within 
myself, and I voluntarily promised I would not be 
baptized at the Convent, especially without their 
knowledge. I observed that they felt that, if I did, 
it would be their fault for sending me to such a Cath¬ 
olic atmosphere, and that if I were away from it I 


10 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


would regret having taken such a step. So, in order 
to spare them any such grievance and worry I silently 
resolved to wait until I left the “influence of the Con¬ 
vent” and was out in the world. I felt that when I 
became of age the responsibility would be entirely 
my own. 

After leaving school I was employed as secretary 
to an Italian portrait painter, Mr. Cartotto. He was 
a devout Catholic, practising his religion without, as 
well as within, the church walls. We had many chats 
and arguments about religion. Purposely I would take 
an opposite point of view to draw him out, but always 
he would convince me. Here was a living example 
outside of the convent, that one could practise his 
religion and receive strength from it even within a 
metropolis! I also observed other Catholics and saw 
their spiritual peace and happiness. There was just 
one impediment to overcome,—that was the shock 
and sorrow it might bring to my family. I searched 
through the words and teachings of Christ to find 
some way of overcoming this fear. One of the strong¬ 
est influences I found was in His words: “Unless you 
take up your cross and follow Me, you shall not enter 
the Kingdom of Heaven.” I saw a command in that 
sentence. I saw His challenge to give up all else to 
follow Him. I did not see “If your family does not 
object,” or “If it will not cause them sorrow,” or “If it 
is convenient.” The commands of Christ contain no 
“ifs.” They point the way. 

So one Sunday just before my twenty-first birthday 
and just after Mass, I stopped in at the Church of 
St. Paul the Apostle, New York City, walked down 
the aisle to a priest standing near the altar rail and 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


11 


said: “Father, I would like to become a Catholic. 
Could I arrange for any instruction that is necessary?” 

Father Skinner, C.S.P., proved a kind and efficient 
teacher. He was always understanding and patient. 
I studied with an open mind and heart and with the 
proviso that if I did not wholly believe in all that 
the Church teaches I would not be baptized. At that 
time I did not know that the iChurch receives no one 
who does not accept all of her teachings, which are 
those of her Divine Founder. 

It is over four years now since my conversion in 
1919 and I feel that I shall never be able to show my 
gratitude to God for His goodness in giving me the 
gift of faith. There is only one way to understand 
the teachings of Christ and that is through the Cath¬ 
olic Church. There is Infinite wisdom and strength 
and guidance in her for all. 


FROM SOCIALISM TO THE CHURCH — 
WHY I AM A CATHOLIC 
David M. Goldstein, 

Boston, Mass. 

“Why I am a Catholic” is a theme as old as the 
Church itself, yet it is as new to the convert as 
though he were the first man to discuss it. Many of 
the ablest and most eloquent men throughout the 
Christian centuries have made it their theme, each 
treating it in his own way. First and foremost stands 
St. Paul, setting for all time the ground of right 
reason with which to view our past and the confidence 
with which to go forward to a fuller understanding 
of the glories of the Faith. 

My conversion to the Church was by way of the 
Socialist movement. A man’s honest enthusiasm for 
a cause which is false may set him on his way to find 
the right path. The active propaganda of Socialism 
through which I passed was at first so seductive in 
its appeal for the brotherhood of man as to exclude a 
fair view of the natural constitution of things human, 
and to make it utterly impossible to look upon the 
Church save as an ally of “Capitalism,” under which 
name Socialists include all those forces which oppress 
the wage-earners. Consequently, one of the reasons 
why I have selected “From Socialism to the 
Church—Why I am a Catholic,” as my title is first 
to warn those who would enter the Socialist move- 
12 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 13 


ment in search of brotherhood that it is not there to 
be found, but just the contrary; for every man’s hand 
is necessarily turned against every other man when 
acting under Socialist principles. Secondly, I seek to 
induce those in search of the brotherhood of man to 
look to the Catholic Church for its fulfilment, for there 
is the Fatherhood of God, without which all search¬ 
ing for the brotherhood of man is in vain. Within 
the keeping of the Church may be found the perfect 
plan laid down by our dear Lord Himself for us all to 
work out in the everyday life of Christian civilization. 
There alone is the heaven on earth the idealist be¬ 
lieves in and works for. If I could lead but one per¬ 
son who is looking the wrong way for the light of 
truth to turn to the “Light of the World,” the Catholic 
Church, I should feel amply rewarded for my work. 

Another reason for selecting “From Socialism to the 
Church—Why I am a Catholic,” as my topic is the 
burning desire to be an instrument to stir the hearts 
of my own race—the Jewish people—to an unbiased 
investigation of the claims of the Catholic Church. 
For there they shall find that its Founder is Christ, 
the Son of God. He is the Anointed, the Word made 
Flesh, for whom our forefathers waited for forty long 
centuries before He came upon earth, and for whom 
pious Jews still look forward with longing. Indeed, 
I have the still greater hope that I may help to en¬ 
lighten those irreligious Jews who have abandoned 
belief in the very existence of God, and are wandering 
over the earth like Ishmael, with their hand turned 
against everything born of the spirit. Having left 
the wholesome restraints of their old faith, they are 
at once a disaster to themselves and a menace to 


14 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


whatsoever State they inhabit. Under the spur of a 
false zeal they are being engulfed in the maelstrom of 
Socialism. Nothing but the acceptance of Christian 
doctrine can avail them, for the fulfilment of the Old 
Law is the foundation of the Catholic |Church. 

Perhaps another reason for having selected “From 
Socialism to the Church” as my subject is, after all, 
the hope that I may help to strengthen weak-kneed 
Catholics; that I may encourage timid Catholics to 
stand up as defenders of the glorious Faith they have 
inherited. To have been born a Catholic! To have 
been endowed, by God’s grace, with the greatest of 
all inheritances! What other gift of fame, of honor, 
of riches, can compare with the gift of the true Faith? 
What nation is there so good or so great as the Cath¬ 
olic Church? Look at her organization, her history, 
her dogmas, her priesthood, her Sacraments, her Sister¬ 
hoods! The work she has done for the halt, the lame 
and the blind, is too great for human speech to declare. 
We should ever cherish our Catholic inheritance and 
proudly and fearlessly proclaim to all the world, “I am 
a Catholic!” 

A word or two may not be out of place as to how 
I got into the Socialist movement. Of course, as an 
abstract proposition, it was simple enough. Having 
given up the practice of my Jewish religion and having 
no correct standards of intellectual judgment, with 
a boundless enthusiasm for the material betterment of 
the people, it was but natural that I should be lured 
by the promises of Socialism into its camp. As a boy, 
surrounded on all sides by poverty, my heart yearned 
to do something in the world to make the conditions 
of life happier. No lad of sixteen was ever prouder 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


15 


than I when I was permitted to carry a torch in the 
procession when Henry George was the candidate 
of the United Labor Party for Mayor of the City of 
New York. Thus early it was that I became a 
propagandist for the Revolution, for the Socialists 
played a most active part in that campaign. 

Not long after that my father moved his family to 
Boston. It was there, where all the fads are given 
a cordial hearing, that I came in contact with the First 
Nationalist iClub, which was founded upon the in¬ 
spiration of the book, “Looking Forward,” and de¬ 
clared myself to be a Socialist. Its minutely drawn 
pictures of a new civilization captivated my imagina¬ 
tion. Of course, there was no use in my trying to get 
into the First Nationalist Club of Boston. Only the 
“big-bugs,” the high-brows, the literati, could get in 
there. So I joined the Socialist party of that day. 
There, for the first time in my life I found an outlet 
for my imagination and my zeal. Say what one may 
about the Socialist movement, it has a marvelous, 
though baneful, attraction for the superficial man. It 
gives the smallest of us a chance to play a big part 
in its international mud puddle. 

What did I know about Socialism as a philosophy 
or as an economic system? Nothing whatever. But 
my imagination was running riot with the coach- 
picture of society as presented by Mr. Bellamy in his 
Socialistic novel. 

I worked day and night for the Socialist cause—for 
what I pictured it to myself to be. It was, above all 
else, a system of society that would put an end to 
misery and dependence. At last, my enthusiasm 
hardened into ambition—ambition to know what, in 


16 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


fact, Socialism might be. I had never accepted athe¬ 
ism as my creed, though the assurance with which 
the intellectual men I chanced to meet spoke of Dar- 
- win, Spencer, Haeckel, Marx, Engels, and others, did 
not fail to impress me with the notion that Science 
and Religion were, in the nature of things, deadly foes. 
Yet, I recall saying at that time that I had no religion, 
nor any philosophy. Of course, I had plenty of the 
race pride which all descendants of my race have. 

After a little study, however, I came to the realiza¬ 
tion that Bellamy’s “Looking Forward” was to 
be classed with the utopias of Plato, Campanella, More, 
and others; that, although Socialists circulated it to 
attract attention to their propaganda, they did not 
accept it in the smallest degree as an ideal of the col¬ 
lectivist society for which they were striving. 

At this stage of my understanding, I had the good 
fortune to come into contact with some truly able 
minds, and, just as bad company, intellectual and 
otherwise, endangers the moral character, so does good 
association tend to lift the heart and mind to a rec¬ 
ognition of eternal truth and to encourage its appli¬ 
cation. 

From these friends I learned a few basic principles 
which progressively brought to my mind the knowl¬ 
edge that the ground floor of Socialism is utterly 
without support in right reason, and with this convic¬ 
tion came an understanding of the barrenness of the 
hope which Socialists hold out to the poor. Oh, the 
pity of it! 

Hammering away at these principles, I was led to 
see that man is, as the Church has always said, a 
special creation. Of course, this is exactly contrary 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 17 


to the Socialist doctrine, which makes out men to be 
the product of mere evolution from the lower animals. 
But the argument from the ground of right reason was 
so plain that I must perforce accept that dogma of 
the Church, though, at that time, I did not relate it to 
Christian Faith, but accepted it rather as the truth. 

Any thoughtful man can see that the animal, by his 
natural fitness, does certain things, that he is ad¬ 
justed to certain environments. The beaver can cut 
down a tree with wonderful precision and with it 
build for himself a secure place of habitation. The 
ever busy bees can organize their interesting colonies, 
maintaining their various class distinctions, setting up 
their own queens, while making the sweetest and most 
wholesome of products. But the beaver and the bees 
do not manifest the positive art principle; they work 
instinctively today as they have worked ever since 
man has known of the existence of beavers and bees. 
Animals do what they do by mere instinct, for the 
verdict of science is that animals do not think. Con¬ 
sequently, they are neither moral beings nor immoral 
beings, but merely non-moral beings. 

But with men, how different! Man is endowed with 
the postitive art principle. He is endowed not only 
with instinct, but with intelligence. He creates his 
own designs by which he superadds civilization to his 
natural habitation. God made man in His own image, 
to have dominion over all things. He is endowed with 
the power to use and to discover the substances, the 
forces and the laws of nature, and to shape them to 
the satisfaction of his own wants. 

Man changes his art designs in accordance with his 
added knowledge and his attained capacity. His primi- 


18 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


tive habitation differs widely from that of civilized 
life. He is able to preserve his life in almost any 
environment, be it at the temperate zones, the poles, 
or the tropics, be the place barren or fertile, hot or 
cold, wet or dry. Man extends the use of his natural 
gifts by the use of this art, his hearing with the tele¬ 
phone, his arm with the derrick, his locomotion by the 
steamship and airship. It is, then, the positive art prin¬ 
ciple, which is never bridged over by the instinctive 
working of the animal, which places man in a class 
of creation by himself on the economic field. And it 
is the economic field which Socialists pretend to know 
all about. 

When this was fixed in my mind, I began to know 
something about so-called scientific Socialism, and to 
take issue with it. As I examined its philosophy, I 
found Socialism to be hopelessly based upon the as¬ 
sumption that man is an animal differing only in an 
evolutionary stage from the brute—not different in 
kind, but only in degree. Recruits were taught, with 
an absolute assurance, as a “fundamental scientific 
premise of Socialism” that man is a mere evolution 
from the lower forms of animal life. Dr. Edward 
Aveling’s “Student Darwin” was then the text-book 
of Socialist biology. The same assumption is taught 
today without a shadow of turning. For proof, one 
has but to read “Socialism and Modern Science,” by 
Enrico Ferri; “Evolution of Man,” by Bolsche; “The 
Origin of the Family,” by Frederick Engels. These 
three standard Socialist classics are circulated by the 
Socialist parties of the world today. Consequently, 
one may be assured that Socialists still teach as a 
scientific truth the discredited theory of man’s evolu- 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 19 


tion from the ape. Taught by Faith, Catholics know 
that God is neither deceived, nor will He deceive; and 
we rejoice to know that the researches of the men 
who rank highest upon the field of secular science sus¬ 
tain the word of God, namely, that man is a special 
creation, endowed with a human soul and is destined 
for a glorious end, quite other than that of the beasts 
of the field. 

As I look back to those days in the Socialist move¬ 
ment, I think it was my conviction that the belief in 
man’s descent from the ape was contrary to right rea¬ 
son that first shattered my belief in the cocksureness 
of what is called scientific Socialism. As my confidence 
in the intellectual superiority of Socialist leaders 
waned, the next step in opposition to their false doc¬ 
trine was less difficult. It was a logical progress from 
darkness to light. 

I began to reason: If animals do what they do by 
instinct alone, if they do what they do because they 
can act in no other way in sustaining themselves 
within the limits of their environment, they must be 
merely expressing the design according to which they 
were created. So it was that I was taken back to the 
old and simple, yet ever up-to-date, argument of orig¬ 
inal design. This theory drove accidental creation, or a 
preponderance of force in a given direction, as an ex¬ 
planation of creation, from off the field. For, the uni¬ 
versal experience of mankind testified to these facts— 
facts which are so simple, and at once so mysterious, 
as tlu.t if you plant an acorn in a given soil it will 
evolve into a full-grown oak tree, not an apple tree or 
a blueberry bush. It is simply that there is implanted 
within the acorn a design which, when it unfolds it- 


20 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


self, is shown to be an oak tree, and nothing but an 
oak tree. What we see at its completed stage of de¬ 
velopment is just what existed in the acorn potentially. 
Why? At least, I could say, willy-nilly, it is so. 

So it is with the created universe, man included. 
What man, by taking thought, can add one cubit to 
his stature? In the process of evolution, the universe, 
as such, is unfolding its design, manifesting the phe¬ 
nomena implanted within it by its Designer. Though 
we behold but an infinitesimal part of the immensity 
of the created universe, seeing the order of its multi¬ 
tudinous parts, our reason points irresistibly to a 
Perfect Designer, and so compels the rational mind to 
conclude that, while the Infinite Designer is seen 
within His creation, He is at once known as distinct 
and separate from His creation. As the cause is neces¬ 
sarily greater than the effect, so must God be greater, 
and other, than His creation. 

All that this argument suggests to the open-minded 
man is as a sealed book to the Socialist, for he is bent, 
not upon finding out the nature of God, but rather 
upon disproving the very existence of God. The 
materialistic philosopher neither sees nor hears. He 
cannot see the sublime lessons nature spreads out for 
his instruction, nor does he listen to the chosen ones 
of God. 

So it was that, after years of mere naturalism, I 
came to the realization of the existence of God, and, 
simultaneously, I began to get some appreciation of 
the dignity of man, and of the responsibility of the 
individual to the will of God, who is the cause of 
man’s being. Then, too, I began to appreciate the 
intelligence with which we are endowed and our power 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 21 


of creating our own designs, by which we may work 
for this, that or another purpose. Yet best of all, 
with the realization of the existence of God came the 
positive belief in free choice—free will—one of our 
great gifts which makes us like unto God Himself. 
For, when I got a grip on the real meaning of self- 
direction, upon our power to go to the right or to the 
left, to go up or to go down, to do good or to do evil, it 
was a vision that opened up a new world to me. It 
showed me the infinite possibilities of man in attain¬ 
ing to the greatest heights of happiness here and here¬ 
after, and too, the possibility of falling to the lowest 
depths. Then was God’s goodness and power made 
known to my own consciousness, as it is laid down in 
the 30th Chapter of Deuteronomy, in which God 
says: 

“I call Heaven and earth to witness this day, that I 
have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. 
Choose, therefore, life, that both thou and thy seed 
may live.” 

Surely I had seen the light, and I must obey the 
knowledge I had gained. I must depart from the 
Socialist camp to do them battle. For, as I turned the 
pages of Socialist literature, I found that every writer 
of international standing in the world-wide party of 
the Revolution who had written on the subject of 
religion denied the existence of a personal God, and 
so logically tabooed the belief in free will—thereby 
making of man a creature dodging this way and that 
in response to the material forces of his environment. 
Because Socialism knows no God, it acknowledges no 
sin. Without personal responsibility for our thoughts, 
words or deeds, there is no future reward or punish- 


22 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


ment. Socialism promises the earth earthy to men of 
the flesh. 

While this transformation was going on within me, 
I still remained an active worker in the Socialist 
movement. In a rather confused state, I held to the 
the opinion that the irreligious views of the leaders 
of Socialism did not necessarily make Socialism ir¬ 
religious. I was ambitious that better leadership 
should take hold of the party affairs at national head¬ 
quarters and all along down the line. I argued, as, 
alas, not a few within the Socialist camp do even now, 
that the irreligious views of the leaders are merely 
personal opinions and nothing more; that these god¬ 
less opinions should be given no more weight than the 
agnosticism of Ingersoll was given during the time 
he was in the Republican party. I learned better later. 
Ingersoll’s godless literature was never circulated by 
the Republican party, but the atheistic, the material¬ 
istic writings of Socialist leaders are distributed by 
the Socialist party the world over, as the philosophical 
foundation of their movement. As long as Socialists 
circulate such writings officially, just so long will 
they be held responsible for the disruptive doctrines 
they set forth. 

It was hard indeed to throw over an ideal which I 
had cherished so long. Suffice it to say I resigned 
from the Socialist movement on May 23, 1903. I was 
absolutely convinced that the Socialist authorities, 
from Marx and Engels to Herron, are in favor of the 
Darwinistic evolution, atheism, personal irresponsi¬ 
bility, and free love, and these doctrines are bone of 
the Socialist movement’s bone, and flesh of its flesh. 

When I left the Socialist party I did not have the 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 23 


remotest idea that I should ever enter the iCatholic 
Church, though I was greatly impressed with its atti¬ 
tude towards the family. Its utterance was straight¬ 
forward, while the speech of others was more or less 
wavering. Shakespeare’s account of the lustful de¬ 
mands of Henry VIII of England and the resistance 
to a divorce by Catherine of Aragon fired my blood 
with satisfaction, while the appreciation of the Hon. 
Carroll D. Wright, our Commissioner of Labor, in his 
report of twenty years of Marriage and Divorce, made 
me aware of the fact that the Catholic Church is the 
strongest factor in the world in protecting the family. 

I am sure that the dear Lord was leading me by the 
hand, for I attended the conferences at the Immaculate 
Conception Church of Boston, where I heard such 
reasonable and convincing addresses from the Jesuit 
Fathers that I fell in love with the soundness of 
Catholic doctrine. I found, at every point, the Catholic 
Church to be the direct opposite of what its enemies 
had declared it to be. 

Not satisfied with mere admiration of Catholic doc¬ 
trine, I began attending the daily Mass at the Carmel¬ 
ite Convent. This I kept up for a year or more. No 
doubt it was the prayers of the nuns, as well as the 
instruction and patient example of my teacher, Mrs. 
Martha Moore Avery, Director of the Boston School 
of Political Economy, who is also a convert to the 
Church, that opened up to me the road from Socialism 
to the Church—so that one more man might be 
privileged to say “I am a Catholic.” She had impressed 
upon me the necessity of going to fundamental prin¬ 
ciples and to original sources. From this instruction, 
I could see that an examination of the doctrines of 


24 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


the hundreds of sects, all claiming to be Christian, 
would lead only to confusion, without giving a root 
knowledge of the Christian Church. Just as I realized 
that the discussion of the Talmud might be intermin¬ 
able though not enlightening, as one can get no nearer 
to the Mosaic Law save by study of the Law itself. 

On walking through the Jewish quarter of Boston 
one evening on my way home from work, I chanced to 
look into a store window of a Protestant Mission. My 
eyes lighted upon a pamphlet—“Israel's Messiah”— 
just the subject I wanted to know something about. 
Fortune favored me, for, although the only copy was 
in the window, yet the attendant insisted upon giving 
it to me. 

The pamphlet told, in simple and eloquent language, 
the story of our Lord. It brought out the fact that 
both Joseph and Mary were of the house of David, 
from which it was foretold the Messias would come. 
It told of the strictness with which the Jews kept, 
protected and cherished their genealogical tables; 
that all the people of Israel “were reckoned by genea¬ 
logies.” Thus it was that the Jews were able to trace 
the ten tribes—to know who was a true son of the 
house of Levi, from whom their priests were selected, 
and the records would show who was a true son of the 
house of David, in which the Messias was to be born. 
The pamphlet made clear that at the time of the birth 
of the Christ Child no one had ever disputed that both 
Mary and Joseph belonged to the house of David— 
nor was it disputed during the life of our Lord Him¬ 
self that He was a son of the house of David. But, 
since all the records were destroyed by Titus when 
Jerusalem was destroyed, how desolate must be the 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 25 


hearts of those Jews who still look for the coming of 
their Messias! From reading this pamphlet, I turned 
to the prophecies in the Bible. The more I read, the 
more I believed in the Messias-ship of the Child of 
Bethlehem. 

Especially was I impressed with the prophecy of 
Daniel, in which he foretold the exact time when the 
vision and the prophecy would be fulfilled; when the 
Saint of Saints would be anointed; when the Mes¬ 
sias would be here, in accordance with God’s promise, 
for in the fullness of that time Christ our Lord was 
born. 

Just two years after I resigned from the Socialist 
movement, by God’s grace, the waters of regeneration 
were poured over me in Baptism by Rev. Joseph H. 
Rockwell, S. J. 

This is, in brief, the story of my journey from So¬ 
cialism to the Church. A few moments in the telling, 
but what a world of difference between the one state 
and the other! For once again, our Lord’s promise 
has been fulfilled, “Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and 
it shall be opened unto you.” 

My experience was the story of the Holy Grail over 
again. “Wanderers search afar for the truth, battling 
against our ignorance and the temptations to indulge 
our passions, only to find that the Lord God loves us 
so that He has planted His Church with the Sacred 
Vessels at our very door, the place from which we 
set out.” 


A SISTER OF CHARITY 
Sister Stanislaus (nee Priscilla Cohen), 

New Orleans, La. 

Sister Stanislaus, nee Priscilla Cohen, was born of 
Jewish parents in New Orleans, La., her father being 
a celebrated Judge of the Supreme Court. 

When about three years of age Priscilla was thought 
to be at the point of death. Her mother, yielding to 
the pleadings of their Irish gardener, permitted the 
child to be baptized a Catholic. The illness, however, 
was not fatal, but after her recovery no thought was 
entertained of allowing her to practise the Catholic 
religion. 

One day on Priscilla’s way home from school, at 
about the age of fifteen, as she was passing a Catholic 
church the door was open and she yielded to the im¬ 
pulse to enter. Again the second day she had the 
same inclination to see the church and she made a 
second visit. As she was leaving she met a priest 
and stopped to talk to him. She expressed her desire 
to learn the doctrines of the Catholic Church and 
upon the invitation of the priest she called that same 
day to begin instructions. The first difficult step was 
to tell her family of her desire to become a Catholic. 
Her father being a firm adherent of the Jewish re¬ 
ligion, this request caused him much pain, but as he 
loved his daughter extremely he could not refuse his 
26 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 27 

consent. After some years the young convert felt a 
call to the religious life. She asked her parents’ con¬ 
sent, and although at first they opposed her, they 
finally yielded to her wishes. She was received into 
the Order of the Sisters of Charity, where she served 
for thirty-four years, eighteen of which were spent at 
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. It was here 
that she died in 1914. She was a woman of rare gifts 
and a most lovable character. Through her pious 
prayers and many sacrifices her entire family, with 
the exception of her father, embraced the Catholic 
Faith. 


ON FLANDERS’ FIELDS 
A Jewish Soldier. 

In the muddy, shell-gnarled fields of Flanders during 
the late war a Chaplain plowed his way through 
wire entanglements to console the wounded men of his 
regiment scattered here and there along the uneven 
ground, to find buddies who had gone West. Suddenly 
the priest bent down near the form of one doughboy 
who had been killed by several machine-gun bullets. 
He recognized the body of a Jewish convert, and 
across his lips was a small silver crucifix which the 
soldier had placed there in his dying agony. 

The story of the crucifix, the manner by which the 
young man came to embrace the Catholic Faith ten 
hours before he went over the top has been told by 
Rev. P. E. Hoey, of the Paulist Order, as follows: 

“Our regiment was the 107th Infantry of the 27th 
Divison. It was late in September when we got the 
big news that the outfit was going over the top. Every 
one was in good spirits, and I heard about seven 
hundred Confessions and arranged for a Mass at a 
very early hour. 

“The men knelt about five rows deep when I gave 
them Communion. I had almost finished when a Jew¬ 
ish lad, whom I had observed fervently praying dur¬ 
ing the Mass, caught my attention. He was lined up 
28 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 29 


with the other men. I paused and said that his faith 
did not allow him to receive Communion. 

“ ‘But I have been attending all your Masses, Father, 
and I honestly believe the bread in the chalice is the 
Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Please give me Com¬ 
munion/ pleaded the boy. 

“I asked the young lad to come to see me after the 
Mass and we would talk the matter over. He arrived 
promptly and we had a real heart-to-heart talk. Being 
convinced of the soldier’s faith in Jesus Christ and his 
desire to be baptized, I administered the Sacrament of 
Baptism, heard his first Confession and gave him Holy 
Communion. 

“That afternoon, while I was taking charge of some 
of the soldiers’ mail, the young convert came in to 
chat with me. While looking over the letters a small 
silver crucifix fell out of one of the envelopes. The 
soldier picked it up and asked if he could keep it. As 
it was impossible to tell to whom it belonged, I gave 
it to him. Not twelve hours after I found the 
lad dead out in No Man’s Land, and the silver crucifix 
sealed his lips.” 

Later, an account of the boy’s conversion, together 
with the little crucifix were sent to his mother. Since 
then, she and the entire family have embraced the 
Catholic Faith. 


THE BISHOP’S WHITE FLOWER* 
Rachel. 


It was in the springtime, a crisp, bright, Canadian 
spring. Father Macdonald was walking briskly down 
the streets of the town which formed his parish, smil¬ 
ing and nodding to every man, woman, and child whom 
he met. For every one knew Father Macdonald, and 
every one, Catholic and non-Catholic, loved him; he 
realized it and his great Scotch heart opened broadly 
to them and he loved them too. Full of zeal for his 
priestly work, ever patient with the troublesome, kind 
to the sorrowful, gentle with the sinner, his life flowed 
on among his people, peacefully and usefully, and the 
world around him grew better, because he lived. 

The children were his special care and they loved 
him. The merry glance of his keen blue eyes, the 
hearty greeting of his big voice, the outstretched arm 
and hand, which could enclose half a dozen of them, 
were something to talk about, and it was nothing 
new to see the big man striding down the street, with 
a crowd of delighted youngsters, boys and girls alike, 
surrounding him, like humming bees on a honeycomb. 
Those pockets of his seemed never empty, and nuts, 
or apples, or sweets, were seen in every little fist. 

This was one of those rare brilliant spring days 
that sometimes come (though not to stay), right after 
* From “The Missionary ” 1919. 

30 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 31 


the ice-bound winter of Canada. The snow was still 
sparkling on the tall pines and in the fence corners 
and on the pointed roofs, but a warm wave had come 
with the sunshine, which entered like wine into the 
hearts of the frozen people, and made the young chil¬ 
dren and animals alike frisk and play in one kinship 
of delight. 

Father Macdonald was greeted with a whoop of joy 
by his small parishioners, and soon a troop of them 
was at his heels. Among them was a little Jewess, 
daughter of one of the prosperous merchants of the 
town. She had fallen under the spell of his person¬ 
ality, and was tolerated, by his legitimate flock, only 
because Father Macdonald would have it so. He 
smiled kindly on the black-eyed, curly-haired descen¬ 
dant of Israel. Indeed, little Rachel was not one to 
be scorned. She was a queenly little miss of ten, still 
unaware of her dark beauty—of her animated rosy 
face, with its scarlet lips revealing teeth like pearls 
which flashed when she smiled. Her tasteful mother 
had her always dressed in those rich colors, that made 
her like a glowing blossom against the snow. 

Father Macdonald always took her hand, and treated 
her like one of his own. And there was no use in 
showing any resentment, none at least ever appeared in 
his presence, although, when he had gone, many little 
jealous tongues voiced their dissatisfaction in no un¬ 
certain manner. Rachel never heeded them; she loved 
the kind gentle priest, and flew to meet him as prompt¬ 
ly as his noisy young flock; something within her 
seemed to answer his call which she could not explain. 
She never mentioned it to her parents—strict Ortho¬ 
dox Jews—and if they heard it, they made nothing of 


32 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


it, for they too admired the devoted priest who never 
tired of doing good to old and young of every creed. 

Several years passed by. The Catholic children 
grew, and so did Rachel. She was now thirteen. Her 
admiration for Father Macdonald was the same, but 
she did not follow him with the crowds of children. 
A smile, a greeting as she passed him, showed she 
was still his friend, and she contrived to meet him 
now and then on his daily rounds, and have a little 
chat. She loved to hear him say, “God bless you, 
Rachel \» 

And now the ecclesiastical authorities had found out 
the worth of Father Macdonald. He was called to 
the city, and there in spite of his protests, he was in¬ 
formed that he was to be made a Bishop. His con¬ 
secration took place in due time and another priest 
was sent to his little Church at A-. 

Rachel missed him sorely, but she hid her sorrow in 
her heart, not daring to mention it to any one. But 
she could not forget his goodness and kindness—his 
gentle exhortations to be a good girl. And it may be 
believed, the Lord looking down on her innocent 
affection, blessed it, and caused it to bring her to the 
portals of salvation, while it saved her from many a 
temptation. 

In this old Canadian town there was a fountain, 
famous for its clear crystal water which came from the 
snow-clad hills, and was conducted into a series of 
marble basins, that dripped with limpid coolness the 
whole season round. Broad walks and trees sur¬ 
rounded it, and there were nooks for resting, and a 
drinking place visible where the passers could slake 
their thirst. Rachel was walking around the fountain 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 33 


one day, when suddenly she saw her friend Bishop 
Macdonald in the distance. She had not seen him 
since he was made Bishop, nor had she heard of his 
visit to his old parish; and while her first impulse 
was to rush to meet him, she felt a sort of awe, and 
an unwonted timidity. The new priest of the parish 
was with him, whom she did not know, and Bishop 
Macdonald was arrayed in shining broadcloth, his 
collar had a rim of purple, a ring sparkled on his hand, 
while a heavy gold chain was around his neck and 
across his breast. 

“I dare not speak to him,” she thought; “he is too 
grand, and he is a Bishop!” 

So the little Jewess drew back. 

But Bishop Macdonald had seen her. He stopped, 
raised his jeweled hand, and beckoned: Rachel came 
towards him blushing, and glowing with pleasure. In 
a moment she was at her ease, chatting as freely as 
she did when he took sweets out of his pocket long 
ago and gave them to her. 

“I was afraid of you, Father Macdonald, you looked 
so grand,” she said laughing, and then she caught 
herself. “But you are a great Bishop now. What 
must I call you? My Lord? Your Grace? Don’t they 
say that?” she added seriously. 

How Bishop Macdonald laughed. 

“Yes, dear child, they do say that. But I am not 
‘My Lord’ or ‘Your Grace,’ to you. Just say Father 
Macdonald, as you did when you were small. You 
have grown to be such a big girl I would hardly know 
you.” 

“And you have been to Rome,” she said in an awed 
tone, “and in the big cities where there are grand 


34 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


cathedrals. And you wear that splendid gold chain 
and ring. I could never call you just Father Mac¬ 
donald now! You must be very near to God!” she 
added, in a low, reverent voice. 

The Bishop looked at her silently. Rachel’s cheeks 
were glowing. Her beautiful dark eyes were sparkling 
with innocent joy; one could see the pure soul shining 
through them. 

“Near to God!” mused the Bishop. “I hope so, 
Rachel, and I trust you are near to Him also, that you 
are a good girl, obedient and docile to your father and 
mother.” 

“They are so dear and kind they let me have every¬ 
thing I wish,” she said smiling; “I don’t think they 

would refuse me anything—except-” and she 

suddenly dropped her eyes. 

“Except what?” said the Bishop. 

“Oh, nothing,” said the girl; “but, my dear Father 
Macdonald, will you stay here long?” 

“Not this time, but I will be back soon again. God 
bless you Rachel until we meet again!” 

He took her hand, pressed it kindly, and went his 
way. 

Rachel stood a moment, looking after him, her 
heart fluttering, her face full of longing. He stood 
for something that she longed for. Oh! what was it? 

And Bishop Macdonald said to his companion: 

“Why don’t you look after that little girl, Father? 
It seems to me she is strongly drawn to the Faith.” 

“Why I never heard her speak before,” was the 
reply. “Would you have the whole Hebrew popula¬ 
tion about my ears! The parish would not hold me, 
if I attempted Rachel’s conversion. Her father and 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 35 


mother are faithful Orthodox Jews, and all her con¬ 
nections likewise.” 

“Well, that may be, but something draws me to 
that child,” said the Bishop musingly. 

And then changing the subject, he.talked of other 
things, but in his heart he sent to Heaven a prayer for 
the little Jewess that she might some day see the light. 

The weeks and months passed on. Rachel spoke 
often at home of her “dear friend Father Macdonald,” 
of the day she met him by the fountain, how princely 
he seemed in his purple and jewels, and how kind he 
was. Just the same “dear Father Macdonald.” How 
he stopped and spoke to her and called her “dear 
child” and said, “God bless you!” She seemed to 
thrill over the words. Her parents were pleased that 
the newly made Bishop noticed so publicly their be¬ 
loved daughter, they had great esteem for Father 
Macdonald since he was made a Bishop, a High Priest 
of his Church, and they were quite satisfied that Rachel 
should know him to speak to him. 

In her little heart this guileless child was saying, 
“I wish I was as near to God! I must be good as he 
told me, and maybe I’ll see him again.” 

One day Rachel complained of a severe headache. 
Her eyes were glittering, her cheeks burning, her 
hands hot and restless. She was put to bed and the 
physician summoned. He shook his head gravely and 
said little to the terrified parents, who saw at once 
there was something serious the matter. 

In a few days Rachel was in the throes of typhoid 
fever of the worst form. Her mother could not leave 
her side, her father was in and out of the room, rest¬ 
less, anxious, fearing and hoping alternately. Rachel 


36 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


grew steadily worse. She became delirious and would 
call out over and over again: 

“I want ‘My Lord,’ I want ‘His Grace!’ ” 

“What on earth does she mean?” cried her mother, 
while her father looked into her dark, unseeing eyes, 
and tried to win a ray of intelligence, but in vain. 

“I want ‘My Lord/ I want ‘His Grace!’” cried 
Rachel—hour after hour. 

The doctor shook his head, he could not make it 
out. 

“Is she religiously inclined?” he asked. “She must 
mean Jehovah.” 

But the mother said through her tears: 

“She has no stain to fret over, she is innocence itself, 
as pure as a white rose! Jehovah has girded her round, 
all her life, with His Angels! She has never given us 
a moment’s pain.” 

“Daughter!” she cried, “tell us, oh tell us what you 
want!” 

“I want ‘My Lord,’ I want ‘His Grace,’ ” moaned 
the child. 

And so the days went on and lengthened into 
weeks. Rachel was dying, but it seemed she could 
not die. Friends came, and their hearts ached seeing 
how dreadfully spent the little form became, how 
fragile were the little hands, how white and thin and 
pitiful the childish face. Day after day they waited 
to see her die. Not once did she regain consciousness 
and yet she feebly whispered: 

“I want ‘My Lord,’ I want ‘His Grace!’ ” 

The physicians said they knew not what kept the 
spark of life in that little frame; there was nothing, 
naturally, to feed it. She lay on her pillow, motion- 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 37 


less, noticing no one, and if her lips moved, and they 
bent to listen, they heard the weak voice barely au¬ 
dible: 

“I want ‘My Lord/ I want ‘His Grace!’ ” 

What did it mean? The townspeople began to 
talk. Why did she not die? They were saddened 
and awed. Bishop Macdonald finally heard it one 
day when he visited his old parish. Without a mo¬ 
ment’s delay he repaired to Rachel’s home. Her father 
met him, and knowing how much the child loved him, 
bade him welcome, and immediately acceded to his 
request to see her. 

“We have allowed no one but her mother and my¬ 
self to enter the room,” said the broken-hearted parent, 
“she is delirious and the doctors say they don’t know 
what keeps her alive. She is muttering about ‘My 
Lord’ and ‘His Grace,’ when we know Rachel was a 
good daughter, faithful to the God of our fathers, and 
overflowing with His grace. But come, Bishop, she 
always loved you as her best friend.” 

The Bishop started perceptibly when the poor father 
said “My Lord, His Grace!” The memory of that day 
by the fountain long ago, when Rachel said she must 
call him so, flashed into his memory. He made up 
his mind what to do. He entered the room. It was a 
sad sight. Rachel’s eyes were closed, and her poor 
little white face bore no shadow of resemblance to 
the beautiful child he last saw. The small head was 
sunk in the pillow, the little transparent hands lay 
limp on the white coverlet, the shadowy outlines of her 
spent and emaciated form filled him with pity. Her 
mother turned, and the slight movement roused 
Rachel. The great dark eyes opened and looked 


38 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


steadily at the Bishop who stood at the bedside, hold¬ 
ing one little thin hand. A flash of recognition lighted 
up her face with a great joy. 

“My Lord! Your Grace! At last!” she whispered. 

“She knows him!” exclaimed the mother. 

“Rachel,” said the Bishop, “shall I baptize you?” 

“Yes, yes!” whispered Rachel. “I have waited for 
it, but you were so long coming! Baptize me, My 
Lord.” 

And the Bishop, seeing there must be no delay, 
took a glass of water that was on the table beside 
her, and placing a folded towel under her head said 
the solemn words, before her parents had time to 
remonstrate: 

“I baptize thee Mary-Rachel, in the name of the 
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” 

And he gently wiped the trickling water from her 
brow. 

One beautiful glance from those dark eyes, now soft 
and intelligent, and then Rachel closed them. A smile 
seemed to hover over the pale face, a restful sigh 
came from her lips. The room was so silent, it was 
heard. 

“Look!” cried her mother, “she is going!” and 
father and mother pressed closer to the pillow. 

The Bishop raised his hand for the last Plenary 
Indulgence, and with that smile still hovering on her 
lips, little Rachel in her Baptismal robe went forth to 
meet the King. 

She had only waited for Baptism. 

Deeply shaken, the Bishop quietly left the house. 
The stricken parents were scarcely conscious of his 
going. Bishop Macdonald was strangely moved at 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 39 


the tender love of Christ for this little soul, and from 
the depths of his heart welled up a cry of thanksgiving 
that he had been chosen out of all the world to lay 
this “White Flower,” this child soul, pure and spotless, 
at the Master’s Feet. Surely there was new music in 
Heaven that hour. 

Rev. Richard W. Alexander. 


ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 
Anna C. Goodman, 

Dorchester, Mass,. 

God’s ways of imparting His many graces are not 
always the same. Although it was quite late in life 
when I took the all-important step, I very often think 
that my desire to become a Catholic was formed many 
years before. I am one of a large family and my 
parents were real old Orthodox Jews. They tried dur¬ 
ing our childhood to inculcate in us the same rever¬ 
ence and devotion for their religion as they had and, 
of course, while I was young I had no alternative but 
to obey. During this time I did considerable thinking, 
which culminated in my deciding, when I became of 
age, that my heart was not satisfied with the Jewish 
religion and that I would not practise any religion 
until I found one that would answer all my longings. 
Perhaps my unrest was due to the fact that a sister of 
mine had gone through a similar period of reflection, 
with the result that she renounced the faith of her 
parents, was banished from home, and sought refuge 
with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She later 
had the happy privilege of becoming one of their 
number. 4 

Probably the trouble which my sister’s conversion 
had caused in our home made me very reticent in 
expressing my views, and besides, I think, too, that I 
40 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 41 


dreaded causing further grief for my mother, of whom 
I was particularly fond. For these reasons, I allowed 
many years to lapse before I decided to take such a 
serious step. I probably would have hesitated longer, 
were it not due to the fact that in 1912 my mother 
died and shortly afterwards I became acquainted with 
a Catholic girl, who was at that time a friend of my 
youngest sister. It might be of interest here to add 
that this same sister, unknown to me, was also seeking 
knowledge of the Catholic religion and had sought the 
aid of the same Sisters of Notre Dame to help her find 
a Catholic girl who would interest herself in her 
behalf. Accordingly, they had introduced one of their 
former graduates, who now became my friend also. 
At this time I was in the engraving business with my 
brother and one day my sister brought her Catholic 
friend to call upon me in the office. From our first 
meeting we seemed to be attracted to each other. We 
have many times since laughingly made the remark 
that I was doomed from the first, for I have since found 
out that her one desire was to win souls and she must 
have been inspired to perceive that all was not well 
with me. She invited me to accompany her to church, 
and introduced me to her family. Before many months 
we became fast friends, but as our friendship waxed 
warm, my sister’s lessened. She entirely abandoned 
all desire to become a Catholic and her attitude to¬ 
wards this friend underwent a very abrupt change. 

When I accompanied my friend to church, the ser¬ 
vices were not entirely strange to me, for many years 
before I had made similar visits with Catholic girls, 
but, of course, I had never gone with the same inten¬ 
tion as at this particular time. After about six months 


42 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


I became convinced that if I wanted peace of mind I 
must become a Catholic, so I asked to receive instruc¬ 
tion. I was introduced to Father Keelan, S. J., of the 
Immaculate Conception Church, Boston, Mass. He 
received me graciously and was painstaking in all his 
instructions. He even gave me private instructions, 
for my convenience, as I was desirous of accomplish¬ 
ing my purpose before acquainting my family of my 
intention. At the end of six months I was baptized 
by him at the Immaculate Conception Church and my 
friend gladly stood sponsor for me. 

I kept all knowledge of my conversion from my 
family for several months, in order to insure peace 
in my home, but finally my father, brother and sister, 
who then constituted the family circle, noticed that 
I abstained from meat on Fridays and went out regu¬ 
larly every Sunday morning, so putting two and two 
together they decided that I had become a Catholic. 
The inevitable disclosure soon followed and then my 
crucible of suffering presented itself. I will not nar¬ 
rate all the disagreeable taunts and criticisms that 
were rained upon me, but will only say that I endured 
it for about a year and then decided I would have to 
seek a home elsewhere. This I did, and since then my 
brother and sister have married and my father is well 
cared for. I am very happy and contented and can 
say with all humility that I am a devout Catholic. I 
feel sure that I can attribute my success in business, 
as well as numerous graces and blessings since my 
conversion to my devotion to the Sacred Heart of 
Jesus. 


UNITY OF FAITH AND DOCTRINE 
Joseph E. Henschel, 

Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

My parents were Orthodox Jews. I was Bar Mitz- 
vah according to the Jewish Law at the age of 
thirteen years. I was the seventh son and every day 
of my life I asked God to guide and direct me. 

When about sixteen years of age a pal of mine by 
the name of George Bremer, who belonged to the 
First Methodist Episcopal Church, was so anxious for 
me to become a Christian that I used to attend ser¬ 
vices with him. He was employed in New York and 
one day while at work he was killed. The minister 
who delivered the eulogy spoke about a “J ew ish young 
man in Greenpoint” who was very devoted to the 
Church but who had not yet entered it, and asked the 
people to pray for him. This young man was no 
other than myself. My wife, whom I did not then 
know, was also present at the funeral, and in later 
years remarked that she had heard this sermon and 
the minister’s request for prayers for me. 

I visited the different Protestant churches and saw 
how the services in each one differed from the other. 
One of the convincing proofs of the Catholicity of the 
Catholic Church was that no matter how many Cath¬ 
olic churches I visited the services were always the 
same. There was unity of faith and doctrine. One 
43 


44 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


day I met a Mr. McCaffrey and he invited me to the 
Forty Hours’ devotion at St. Vincent de Paul’s 
Church. As soon as I entered the church something 
came over me, a feeling which I could not explain. 
Now I know that it was the Real Presence of our 
Lord on the altar drawing me unto Himself. I began 
to make inquiries concerning the Catholic ,Church and 
its doctrine, and Mr. McCaffrey introduced me to the 
late Father Joseph McCoy. We called to see him and 
I was waiting for him to talk to me about religion. 
After a while I said: 

“How is it, Father, you are not bringing up the sub¬ 
ject of religion like the Protestant ministers do?” 

He answered that he did not wish to force religion 
on any one. 

Father McCoy gave me several books to read, among 
them “The Faith of Our Fathers” by the late Cardinal 
Gibbons. This made a deep impression upon me. All 
of a sudden I believed everything the Catholic Church 
teaches; God had given me the light. I was then bap¬ 
tized by Rt. Rev. Msgr. O’Hare, LL.D., at St. An¬ 
thony’s Church. This was in 1893, and about four 
years later I received the Sacrament of Confirmation. 

My parents or brothers never offered one word of 
protest to the step I had taken and visited me all 
their lives. My father thought so much of me that 
shortly before he died he made the request in his 
will that I take charge of his funeral and all his affairs 
after his death. He wished to be buried according to 
the old Jewish rites and he left the arrangements to 
me, knowing that my word being given as a Catholic, 
his wishes would be honored. Every wish was carried 
out to the letter. 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 45 


At the present time I have the confidence of not only- 
many of the Jewish people, who come to me for ad¬ 
vice concerning business and other matters, but also 
of Protestants and (Catholics alike, so that far from 
severing me from my family and friends, my con¬ 
version but served to strengthen the ties which al¬ 
ready existed. 


A SISTER OF MERCY 
Sister M. Aquin. 

Were it not that I do this in obedience, I would 
hesitate to tell the history of my conversion. Words 
seem inadequate to reveal even in some small degree 
the patient seeking of the Divine Shepherd for a stray 
sheep. Of necessity this must be personal, since it 
depicts the inner struggle of a soul. 

My parents were Orthodox Jews and brought up 
their son and three daughters in strict adherence to 
its tenets. My mother was one of those rare souls 
really Catholic at heart. I believe her soul was never 
stained by a grievous transgression of the Law. 

At the age of seventeen I became very much dis¬ 
satisfied with my religion. It appeared to me nothing 
but an empty ceremonial. I yearned for a living God, 
a loving Father and I could only find a stern Judge, 
a hard Master. My soul was troubled, unhappy, 
despondent. 

I had caught little fragments of the life of Jesus 

from the example of my Catholic companian B-, 

whose unwavering devotion to her blind aunt was 
truly Christlike. Her peace of soul, her childlike con¬ 
fidence in God, contrasted strongly with my turbulent 
spirit. Was her religion the true one, or was mine? 
Both could not be right at the same time. If the 
Messias had come, the Catholic Church was right; 
46 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 47 


if He had not come, the Jewish belief was correct. 
(It never occurred to me to consider any of the various 
Protestant sects.) So I argued and reasoned in the 
depths of my soul, with no human aid or guidance. 

Then I became indignant with myself for what I 
deemed infidelity to my religion. “Surely, it is be¬ 
cause I am not familiar enough with the riches of my 
own faith,” I thought. Thereafter, every spare moment 
was employed in searching the books of the most 
eminent Jewish writers for a ray of light. Among 
other books that I eagerly perused were the eight 
volumes on the “Life of Christ” by Goetch, a re¬ 
nowned rabbi. Yes, Christ was a great man, they all 
acknowledged, one of the greatest heroes of history, 
a noble character, indeed; yet, each denied His Di¬ 
vinity. This was an enigma to me. Either Christ was 
Divine or He was an impostor, for He proclaimed 
Himself to be the Son of God, yea, very God. 

At this time I confided my spiritual struggle to B—, 
who said I was unfair to view only one side of the 
question, and pleaded with me to read “The Life of 
Christ” by Rev. Walter Elliott, C.S.P. After some 
consideration I took the book, thinking, “I’ll prove to 
myself that my attraction for Christ is not well 
founded.” But the Divine Shepherd thought other¬ 
wise, and with infinite patience His footsteps pursued 
His unworthy sheep. 

The charm, the beauty, the sacrificial character of 
Christ drew me magnetically and held me spellbound. 
Surely this was the Messias! No, it must not be! It 
could not be! Reproaching myself for being so dis¬ 
loyal, I threw the book from me. “O God, show me 
that the Catholic Church is false and teach me to find 


48 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Thee in the faith of my fathers/’ became the constant 
cry of my agonized soul. Oh, who but a convert can 
comprehend the agony caused by uncertainty in a 
matter so vital! Of all the trials that God in His 
mercy has sent since then, none have been so 
excruciating as this struggle which lasted over a year. 
Ever I searched for truth among learned rabbis; ever 
the picture of Jesus loomed before my vision. Was 
ever a man so holy, so kind, so worthy of love? If 
only He were Divine! 

B- asked me to say a prayer every day for 

grace to see the Light. There being no appearance 
of Catholicity in it, I consented. (Little did I realize 
that I was addressing my plea to the Holy Ghost, the 
third Person of the Blessed Trinity.) I will relate 
the prayer here, with the hope that it will be a solace to 
other souls in time of desolation, when God hides 
His Face as it were, and the soul feels itself struggling 
alone in the darkness. 

“O Holy Spirit, take me for Thy disciple; guide me, 
illuminate me; sanctify me. Bind my hands that 
they may do no evil. Cover my eyes that they may see it 
no more. Sanctify my heart that evil may not dwell 
within me. Be Thou my God. Be Thou my Guide. 
Whithersoever Thou leadest me, I will go. Whatso¬ 
ever Thou forbiddest me, I will renounce, and what¬ 
soever Thou commandest me, in Thy strength, I will 
do. Lead me, then, O Lord, into the fullness of Thy 
truth.” 

The frequent repetition of this prayer brought calm 
to my troubled spirit. I trusted that God would hear 
and answer it in His own good time. 

As the days and weeks sped on I grew more and 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 49 


more dissatisfied with my religion. To take part in 
the outward ceremonies of the Jewish religion, when 
my soul no longer approved, seemed acting deceit¬ 
fully ; to address the God of the Christians appeared 
to be rank disloyalty. Truly I knew not what to do! 

Later I resumed the reading of Father Elliott’s “Life 
of Christ.” This time, not in a critical mood, but as 
one unprejudiced, seeking for truth. Yes, I resolved 
I would follow God whithersoever He might lead me, 
although I realized full well what sacrifices He might 
demand. 

How it happened, I cannot recall. Gradually my 
soul was illumined with Divine grace. There was no 
doubt now. Christ was Divine! It seemed strange to me 
that I had not perceived this sooner. I had found my 
God—and I would follow Him! 

My duty became very distinct. I must be instructed. 
At home this was little short of impossible, for not 
long before this time my sister had told my parents 
that she wished to be a Catholic and they felt in duty 
bound to protect me, lest I too become infected with 
the same “loathsome disease.” Therefore, I devised 

the plan of going to the city of M-, entering a 

training school for nurses, thus affording myself the 
opportunity of receiving instructions. My mother con¬ 
sented only under one condition, namely, that I would 
enter a training school conducted under Jewish au¬ 
spices. This I did. 

Shortly after my arrival at M-, I was blessed 

indeed in having for my instructor Father G-, 

a Capuchin priest. My visit to him was my first in¬ 
terview with a priest and I was rather uneasy, but 
soon my fears disappeared. Here was a true man 





50 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


of God! I have always looked upon it as one of the 
great graces of my life to have been guided by one so 
Christlike. And here, I cannot help expressing my 

gratitude to Father P-, a convert from Judaism, 

whose kind advice and earnestness in God’s service 
have inspired me with courage and determination. 

Having once realized that Christ was Divine, I had 
no difficulty in accepting His doctrines. I felt I 
was entering a new world full of mysterious beauty 
and fascination; that I could never learn enough of 
His marvelous Church—never begin to know as much 
of it as I should know. 

After much persuasion, my mother allowed my sister 
to live with me in the city, thinking that thus she 
would be far removed from any Catholic influence. 

Together we made our profession of faith and were 
baptized August 3, 1917. This was followed by a 
short retreat, and on Sunday morning, the Feast of 
“Our Lady of the Snow,” at a little shrine dedicated 
to our Blessed Mother, we received for the first time 
our Lord in Holy Communion. That day we both 
made an irrevocable offering of our hearts to God, 
who has since then deigned to accept our poor oblation. 

No one but a convert can ever grasp adequately 
what it means to have been without the Sacraments 
and then to have them. The contrast is far greater 
than that of a ship at the mercy of the wind and 
waves, anchorless and rudderless, and one with all sails 
set, following unswervingly her desired course, know¬ 
ing with certainty that some day she will reach her 
port in safety. 

A year later the Voice inviting me to His inner 
circle of followers could be resisted no longer. By a 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 51 


special Providence, God guided me to a Convent of 
Mercy, whose members had so attracted me by their 
humility, simplicity and the beautiful exemplification 
of mercy, so dear to the Heart of the Master. This 
has since then become the dearest spot on earth to 
me. All the riches and pleasures of the world can¬ 
not compare with the joy and peace of one who gives 
herself entirely to the service of God. 

After our reception I had to face the trial of in¬ 
forming my parents. I dreaded the effect that this 
knowledge might have on them. I knew full well 
that they would consider this the greatest disgrace 
that could possibly fall on any Jewish family. I 
wrote to my only beloved brother, who was a physi¬ 
cian in the city of C-, asking him to take his 

vacation and thus be with mother to console her 
when she received my letter. He replied, begging us 
to remain faithful to the Jewish religion. Nearly six 
years have elapsed. No word from him has reached 
us during this time. He does not wish to hear our 
names mentioned and does not know whether we are 
numbered among the living or the dead. 

To us Catholics, who look upon all trials in the light 
of Christ Crucified, no cross seems unbearable. It 
was a cross for us to realize what sorrow the news 
of our conversion would cause our parents, but after 
a few years, seeing what peace and happiness we en¬ 
joyed, mother became somewhat reconciled. 

Yes, these crosses are a part of the price. In some 
degree all converts must expect to meet them. But 
let us bear in mind what Christ said: 

“He who loves father or mother more than Me, is 
not worthy of Me/’ 



52 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Several times I have been asked whether I have 
ever regretted taking the step. In all sincerity I an¬ 
swer, “No, a thousand times, no!” Since my conver¬ 
sion I have never for one moment doubted, but have 
daily, with overflowing heart, said my “Te Deum” 
for the infinite mercy of Jesus towards me, yea— 

“I could not do without Him, 

Jesus is more to me 

Than all the richest, fairest gifts 

Of earth could ever be. 

And the more I find Him precious, 

And the more I find Him true, 

The more I long for you to find 
What He can be to you.” 


THE POWER OF GOOD EXAMPLE 
Andrew B. Klyber, 

Kirkwood, Mo. 

In New York City in that district known as the 
slums,—Delancey Street, I was born in 1900. My 
parents came to this country from Russia and settled 
here among their countrymen. When I was three 
years of age, my father becoming discouraged de¬ 
serted home, and thus brought about the slow death 
of my mother shortly after. I was taken by my uncle 
to the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society of New 
York, which was at that time located at 150th Street 
and Broadway. There I remained until I was twelve, 
during which period I received such very poor instruc¬ 
tion in my inherited faith that I was no more than a 
heathen. My health failing me, I was placed to board 
with a kind family who consented for the small re¬ 
mittance of $2.50 a week to support a poor orphan. 
When thirteen years old I was Bar Mitzvah. 

After being transferred about to different Jewish 
families, none of which ever attempted to inculcate 
any religion in me, I was discharged from the asylum 
and permitted to leave school and go to work. I 
moved to the home of my mother’s sister, a very pious, 
kindhearted old soul, one of those Orthodox Jews 
who still clung tenaciously to her faith. She tried, 
without success, to make a religious Jew of me. 

53 


54 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


At the age of seventeen I joined the U. S. Navy 
(April 6, 1917), when war was declared against Ger¬ 
many. After varied experiences in foreign and home 
waters my ship landed me in San Pedro, California, 
where she remained for two years. During this time, 
about the latter part of 1919, one of my shipmates, a 
young man named Anderson, invited me to visit him 
at his home, which was but twenty-three miles dis¬ 
tant, in Los Angeles. I accepted and later became so 
attached to the family—the mother and five boys, 
that I became a weekly visitor. They were Catholics 
and good practical ones. I was introduced to their 
friends and grew to like the Christians, whom before, 
like most Jews, I held in utter contempt. I felt that 
I would like to be one of them, but did not divulge 
my thoughts or feelings to any one. One day as I 
was going to the beach with the Anderson family, 
the good mother asked me why I did not join the 
Knights of Columbus. I replied, of course, that I 
could not since I was not a Catholic. This gave ad¬ 
ditional food for thought and I found myself desirous 
of information relative to the Catholic religion. Still 
I did not speak. One Sunday morning as the family 
started for Mass they invited me to join them. My 
impression of the Solemn High Mass which I heard 
will ever remain with me. 

I went back to the Submarine Base at San Pedro, 
where I was stationed and for three weeks revolved 
the idea of conversion in my mind and viewed it from 
every angle. At length being ready to sacrifice any¬ 
thing and everything, I wrote to Mrs. Anderson for 
some advice as to how I might get instruction. She 
replied that I ought the see the priest who was Chap- 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 55 


lain, and she sent me the “Faith of Our Fathers” and 
the “Question Box.” These I read with avidity and 
without the slightest prejudice or questioning. I had 

an interview with Chaplain K- and from that 

day I studied Catechism as I had never studied any¬ 
thing before. I simply drank it in, and the astounding 
feature was that I never for a moment doubted the 
Divinity of Christ. I assume from this that the blessed 
Faith I received was a pure gift to me, through no 
merit of my own. After a month of intensive in¬ 
struction I was baptized on February 8, 1920, and 
then followed the happiest time of all my life. As 
to the description of it, all I can do is leave it to other 
converts who have also had the grace of Baptism and 
who alone can have had that Heavenly feeling. I be¬ 
came a Knight of Columbus to the fourth degree. 
I was confirmed the same year and rested securely in 
the arms of Mother Church. All my relatives are, of 
course, opposed to my change of Faith and think I 
am crazy. I am, however, willing to give up all rather 
than surrender this wonderful gift which God has 
bestowed on one so unworthy. 

Two years after my Baptism I felt a call to the holy 
priesthood, which I continually dismissed from’ my 
mind for nearly six months. First I laughed it off 
as a fancy; then I argued it away, but finally I suc¬ 
cumbed to the Divine will and through a mission 
which the Redemptorist Fathers gave at San Pedro I 

became acquainted with Father F-through whom, 

with the aid of my regular confessor, I was accepted 
as a student in St. Joseph’s College at Kirkwood, Mo. 
In a short time I expect to take my vows and give my¬ 
self to God forever. My greatest ambition is to save 



56 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


souls, especially those of my own people, whom I 
would so desire to see in the bosom of the Catholic 
Church. May God enlighten those who seek the truth, 
bringing them out of the darkness of ignorance into 
the holy light of Faith! 

“Just as I am, Thine own to be, 

Friend of the young, who lovest me; 

To consecrate myself to Thee, 

O Jesus, Lord, I come. 

“Just as I am, young, strong and free, 

To be the best that I can be, 

For truth and righteousness and Thee, 

Lord of my life, I come.” 


FROM A JESUIT MISSIONARY 
Rev. J. F. A., S. J. * 


MY FIRST BAPTISM 

Nature has given me a hooked nose and I have 
often been taken for a true son of Israel. 

I was not yet a priest. During my study of the¬ 
ology I had charge of the boys’ Sodality and took 
part in the games of my boys in the public Park. 
Among the spectators was a young cadet, from a 
military school of the Far East. He came of a wealthy 
family and his uncle was a representative in the Par¬ 
liament of his country. The young cadet began to 
greet me and finally one day he accosted me and asked 
to become acquainted. I invited him to come to the 
(College and during our conversation I learned that he 
was a Jew and that he had taken me to be a Jewish 
convert. I told him jokingly that I had been worse 
than a Jew, that I had been a heathen for two weeks 
before my Baptism, and if my parents had not given 
me the opportunity of being baptized, when I learned 
to know the Messias later on as I know Him now, 
I would have asked for Baptism. 

“I want to become a Catholic,” the young cadet 
said with eyes beaming with joy, “and you must bap- 

* Father A. states that he has already had the privilege of 
baptizing thirty-six Jews. 


57 


58 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


tize me. Then I will he as happy as you and your 
young working boys are.” 

“As I am not yet a priest, I must take you to one of 
the Fathers,” I replied. 

“If that is the case, then I will wait,” said the 
young cadet. 

I prepared him for Baptism and we became good 
friends and a year later he was present with my 
father and stood near the altar when I received Holy 
Orders. The following morning before my first Mass 
I baptized him and my father was proud to be the 
god-father of a young Jewish cadet. During my first 
Holy Mass my father and his god-child received Holy 
Communion together. 

To my great surprise the young convert came that 
same day to tell me that he had resolved to leave the 
world and to become a religious, in order to be better 
able to pray and to do penance for the conversion of 
the Jews. He was received in one of the strictest 
Orders of the Church and when he bade me farewell 
he told me that all his life he had prayed for light and 
the love of God, and thanks to this and his associa¬ 
tion with good Catholic young men he had always 
led a pure life. 

AN ENTIRE FAMILY BAPTIZED 

I was giving conferences to the Apologetic section 
of the Blessed Virgin’s Sodality, which were attended 
also by some non-Catholics. One day there was a 
draught in the hall and being bald I felt it, so I put 
on a little black skull cap. The next day one of the 
students came to my room and said: 

“Father, I would like to become a Catholic.” 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 59 


I asked him: “What are you, a Protestant?” 

He answered: “No, I am a Jew/’ 

“But you do not look like one,’’ I replied, looking 
at the blond, blue-eyed youth. 

“But you, Father, looked like one yesterday in your 
skull cap/’ he remarked. 

I was pleased with the boy, who proved to be an 
able and beloved pupil. Even then he was known as 
a poet and literary worker. With his good will and 
the grace of God, he made rapid progress in his prep¬ 
aration for Baptism. He was publicly baptized in the 
Jesuit church, his entire class attending the ceremony. 
Close to the baptistery were his Jewish parents and 
grandmother. They followed all the ceremonies with 
interest. 

After the youth’s First Holy Communion and 
thanksgiving, he and his family were invited to break¬ 
fast in the parlor. His younger brother, about twelve 
years of age, who opposed the step his brother took, 
showed his displeasure during the ceremonies and 
refused to go to the breakfast. I invited him, but 
with a scornful look he said to me: 

“You helped Gabriel to be a traitor to his religion 
and to his people.” 

“I have helped him to find his Messias and his God. 
His God is the true God of the ancient Jewish nation 
and his Messias was promised by the prophets,” I 
replied. “Now Gabriel is a believer in the Mosaic Law 
in the true sense of the word, truly living up to the 
Gospel, because he has accepted the Gospel which the 
Messias has handed down to us through all the cen¬ 
turies through His universal Church, the Catholic 
Church.” 


60 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


The boy then remarked: 

“A decent man cannot change his conviction.” 

“Of course not/’ I said, “if his conviction is in ac¬ 
cordance with the truth. But if one is on the wrong 
road, as soon as he is conscious of that fact, he must 
take the right road, and that is what Gabriel has 
done.” 

The young boy then denounced Catholics, saying: 

“They use profane language, drink to excess, and 
do not live up to what they claim to be.” 

“I do none of these things,” I replied; “neither will 
Gabriel as a Catholic, nor any other good Catholic.” 

Again I said: 

“My dear little friend, either you believe in the pro¬ 
phets, or you do not. If not, you cannot be a Jew. 
And if you do believe in them, you cannot remain one, 
but must follow Gabriel to the Baptismal font and to 
the Communion rail.” 

“Oh, I believe in the prophets,” he answered. 

“But the prophets foretold the coming of the Mes- 
sias, the time and place of His birth, and other cir¬ 
cumstances of His life minutely, and everything has 
come to pass as they have foretold,” I replied. 

“Christ stands out in the full light of history, as 
do Caesar, Napoleon and other great men. Had He 
not come, I could not believe the prophets or any 
writers of history.” 

Two months later this little stubborn Jewish boy 
knocked at my door and asked to be prepared for 
Baptism. With his parents’ consent I had him 
attend religious instructions. In due time he was 
baptized and he received his First Holy Communion 
in the convent chapel. 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 61 


One day his mother came to me and said: 

“Usually children are baptized after their parents, 
but I want to follow my sons/’ 

The father, who had not opposed his sons' Baptism, 
seriously objected to his wife becoming a Catholic, 
but finally gave his consent. 

A short time after this, I visited the family and a 
young girl opened the door. I greeted her with the 
usual Catholic greeting: 

“Praised be Jesus Christ!” 

She answered: 

“Forever and ever. Amen.” 

Great was my surprise when I was told that she 
was the cousin of the recently baptized boys. I asked 
her how she could thus answer my Christian greeting. 
She said: 

“I believe in Jesus.” 

“But why do you not receive Baptism?” I asked. 

“I would lose my position,” she replied. 

In a few weeks she secured a much better position 
with a Christian firm and was baptized and made her 
First Holy Communion. After some time two of her 
brothers were also received into the Catholic Church. 

We had given up all hope that the father would be¬ 
come a Catholic, as he had never given much thought 
to religion. He contracted heart trouble, and was ad¬ 
vised by the doctors to take a cure at the baths. His 
oldest son accompanied him, but he was not helped. 
On his return home he grew worse and his son sent 
for a priest who came to see him. A short time be¬ 
fore his death, while he was fully conscious, he was 
baptized and received Holy Communion. 


62 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT 

An elderly Jesuit Father received word from a 
City Official in another town that there was a Jewish 
governess in his household who wanted to become a 
Catholic. She had been engaged from Warsaw by the 
Catholic family and had given the children religious 
instruction. All thought that she was a Catholic. 
When she failed to make her Easter duty, she was 
asked why and she shyly answered that she was a 
Jewess. 

She was advised by the Official mentioned above to 
leave the city for a few weeks and visit this Jesuit 
Father, who would prepare her for Baptism. As the 
Father was ill, he asked me to interview the young 
lady who would call. I waited three days and in¬ 
quired at the sacristy and at the door if any one had 
called to see the Father, but it seemed she had not 
called. One morning while in the confessional the 
thought suddenly came to me to go out after the poor 
'‘erring sheep.” I went to the house where she was 
staying. The door was opened by a young lady all 
ready to go out. I asked to see Miss N. N. and made 
an apology for calling at such an early hour. 

She answered: 

“It is too late. I do not want to have anything to 
do with a priest.” 

“You are the Jewish governess?” I asked. 

“Yes,” she replied. “Who sent you to me?” 

I explained my reason for calling. She then told 
me that she had been in the sacristy a few days be¬ 
fore and asked for the old Father and was told that 
he was ill and could not be seen. 

“I went,” she said, “to a nearby priest and spoke to 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 63 


him about Baptism, but he said: ‘I do not trust the 
Jews from Warsaw. You come here to ruin our youth 
with your anarchistic teachings/ I answered that I 
would not trust him and left him.” 

I apologized for the discourteous remark of the 
old priest, as I knew him personally, and told her that 
he simply wanted to test her to see if she really meant 
to be baptized. Her courage returned and she told 
me that she was using an assumed name. She gave 
me her real name and her life story. 

She was the oldest daughter of a rich banker in 
Warsaw. She had found no contentment in the Jew¬ 
ish religion, and through the reading of bad books she 
had lost all belief in God and eternity. The pleasures 
and amusements of life did not appeal to her. She 
said: •! i^'i j|f[§| 

“I saw human misery in its fullness, but being edu¬ 
cated I could teach music and languages, which gave 
me sufficient means to be independent of my family. 
At last I joined the Social Democrats.” 

Without faith in God she went from bad to worse, 
finally joining the Anarchists, attending their meet¬ 
ings and making speeches for their cause. For this 
she was imprisoned for a year. During that period 
she was able to reflect and said to herself: 

“Either there is a God or there is none. In the first 
case Catholics are right; in the second, Anarchists. 
All others, Protestants and Social Democrats, are not 
consistent in following out their principles.” 

Anxious to read something to satisfy her soul, she 
went to a book store and picked up a book, “Evenings 
on the Lake of Geneva,” written by a Jesuit Father. 
After reading it she felt drawn to the Catholic Church. 


64 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Her parents learned this and threatened to cast her 
from their home. She remained steadfast and visited 
a Catholic church. Her family disowned her and ex¬ 
pelled her from their house. She was unable to secure 
a position in Warsaw. At last she obtained the posi¬ 
tion she had as governess with the Catholic family. 
And now when she was so near the goal, she had been 
repulsed by the first priest to whom she spoke. The 
devil had tempted her to commit suicide and at the 
very moment I met her she was on her way to drown 
herself in the river. My appearance had hindered her. 

All I had to do was to explain to her the philoso¬ 
phic basis of the truths of Faith. She knew the Cate¬ 
chism already. She made a retreat in a convent and 
there was baptized and received Holy Communion. 

We visited the parish priest who had treated her so 
rudely and he was full of kindness. She did not re¬ 
turn to the Catholic family but sought to become a 
religious and was rejected by several Orders. There¬ 
upon she went to Rome, had an audience with Pope 
Pius X and explained her case. He gave her a written 
permission to enter the religious Order she might 
choose and she is now a Franciscan nun. 


A SOLDIER OF CHRIST * 

Minnie Cecilia Dembo, 

New York City. 

In the southern part of New York City on Grand 
Street stands Saint Mary’s, an historic old church, 
whose parochial school for many years was the well- 
known Rutgers Institute. Within the parish and on 
its outskirts is a large Jewish colony, a veritable 
Ghetto, whose younger generation sometimes, at least 
in days gone by, came into contact with Catholic 
children. One of these dark-haired daughters of Judah, 
Minnie Dembo, counted among her friends several 
girls with whom she sometimes attended the Catholic 
services, which made a strong appeal to her religious 
temperament and she desired to learn more about the 
religion. One of these friends introduced her to one 
of the assistant priests of the parish, who in turn 
sent Minnie for instruction to a Sister of Charity 
attached to Saint Mary’s Academy on East Broadway. 

As neither teacher nor pupil had leisure during the 
day, the teaching of Catechism and the necessary ex¬ 
planations were given in the evenings in the large 
old-fashioned parlor of the house which is no longer 
the property of the Sisters of Charity and which in all 
probability has today Jewish tenants. The young 
girl proved an apt pupil, for her heart was in her 
work. She was soon ready for Baptism, which was fol- 
65 


66 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


lowed by her First Holy Communion. Confirmation 
made her a soldier of Christ, not in name only but in 
reality, for a severe conflict awaited the young con¬ 
vert. In Confirmation she took the name of Cecilia, 
and henceforth she was known as Minnie Cecilia 
Dembo. 

Of her change of faith her family knew nothing at 
the time, though they probably realized that in com¬ 
pany with friends she visited the Catholic church. 
After her Baptism, Minnie had some difficulty in prac¬ 
tising her faith without arousing suspicion, especially 
when she wished to go to Holy Communion. She was 
employed in a large paper establishment in the lower 
part of the city, and when she intended to approach 
the holy altar she managed for some time without 
exciting comment to leave home in the morning with¬ 
out breakfast and assist at an early Mass at St. Peter’s 
Church, Barclay Street. Before beginning her work 
she had a few minutes in which to eat the roll which 
she had carried from home. Not even a cup of coffee 
was added to this meagre repast, as time did not allow 
her to go to a restaurant. 

Finally her secret became known. Her mother, a 
gentle, loving woman, while regretting the step which 
her daughter had taken, showed no harshness, but 
her father and the rest of the family refused to have 
her in the house, and so she had to leave home and 
begin to struggle for existence. When she was at 
home, her salary, not large, was entirely at her own 
disposal for clothing and pin money; now it had in 
addition to provide food and shelter for one who had 
been accustomed to a comfortable home with no 
thought for the future. 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 67 


Her trials were many and painful, but she found 
friends. Through the priest and the Presentation 
Nuns of St. Michael’s Convent she made the acquain¬ 
tance of a lady whom we shall call Mrs. A., who was 
very good to her especially in gifts of clothing, not 
new as a rule, but of good quality and most service¬ 
able. 

For a time Minnie's poor home was a room without 
a window, probably a kind of large closet, and for 
this and her meals she gave four dollars a week out 
of her salary of seven dollars. This was about 1897, 
when the purchasing value of money was greater than 
it is now. She paid visits to her mother, whom she 
dearly loved and whose failing health was a source of 
sorrow, but these visits had to be made when she was 
sure not to meet any other member of her family. 

At length her hard life and anxiety as to her future 
told on a constitution naturally weak, and signs of 
lung trouble made their appearance. Through some 
friends she found her way to a sanitarium, where 
after a while her health improved and where she 
might have remained longer if she had so wished, but 
she preferred to return to the city. Upon her return 
she obtained a position in a department store at six 
dollars a week and again faced the weary task of keep¬ 
ing body and soul together. In the vicinity of the 
store she secured a little room and in a modest res¬ 
taurant nearby she took her daily meals. "How 
often,” she said, "I longed on a cold morning for 
something more than the roll and coffee which my 
purse allowed! The appetizing odors around me al¬ 
most drove me crazy.” The proprietor, evidently a 
kind-hearted man, quietly added occasionally to her 


68 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


frugal meal something which she had not ordered and 
for which there was no charge. 

Though God tried her in the fires of sorrow, He did 
not desert her, as she always found friends. Often, 
on her return from daily work exhausted in mind and 
body, some little delicacy awaited her in her room, a 
few oranges, a bunch of grapes, etc., the gifts of a 
neighbor who knew the straitened circumstances of 
the delicate girl. For months one of these good Sa¬ 
maritans provided daily a bottle of milk. The Sister 
who had instructed her never lost sight of her charge, 
and Minnie, when she could find time, visited her 
teacher both in East Broadway and later in another 
house to which the Sister had been transferred. 

An ugly cough took firm hold one winter, and it 
was evident that nature could not hold out much long¬ 
er. While Minnie was in this condition, she happened 
in her capacity of saleswoman to wait upon a Sister 
of Charity. The Sister noticed her poor state of 
health and soon had the sad story. Sister lost no time 
in consulting with the presiding Mother at Mount St. 
Vincent and readily received permission to have Min¬ 
nie entered as a patient in Seton Hospital for con¬ 
sumptives situated at Spuyten Duyvil, under the di¬ 
rection of the Sisters of Charity. For some time Min¬ 
nie refused to go, even when increasing ill health 
obliged her to give up her position. In this plight the 
homeless girl found refuge with a Catholic family in 
moderate circumstances but rich indeed in Godlike 
charity, for the daughter of the household shared her 
bed with Minnie, then evidently a victim of tuber¬ 
culosis. Later, at the earnest entreaties of her Sister- 
friend the poor girl finally consented to go to the hos- 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 69 


pital. Here pure air, good food, and peace of mind 
proved excellent tonics and she improved to such 
a degree as to be able to make an occasional visit to 
friends. She seemed quite contented and realized that 
many years were not to be hers. Mrs. A., whose kind¬ 
ness never varied, promised that when God would call 
the homeless girl, she would have a last resting place 
in her family plot, so all cares were set aside both for 
the present and for the future. The Sister who had 
been instrumental in having Minnie admitted into the 
hospital visited her occasionally, bringing little gifts 
and always receiving a warm welcome. 

During the month of February, 1908, an attack of 
pneumonia proved too much for the shattered frame 
and Minnie Cecilia Dembo passed away to her re¬ 
ward after thirteen years of bitter struggle to keep the 
precious treasure which the Master had so generously 
bestowed. Her illness was sudden and the day before 
her death the Sister who had given the first lessons 
from the little Catechism was notified that the end 
was near. Sister responded immediately to the sum¬ 
mons and found her little friend very weak, but per¬ 
fectly happy and resigned. She was full of gratitude' 
for all that God and man had done for her and prom¬ 
ised not to forget Sister’s special intentions when she 
was safe with God. Later events proved that she was 
true to her word. 

Minnie had aspirations towards the religious life, 
aspirations which circumstances and her poor health 
did not allow her to realize. Thus did the Spouse of 
her soul try her whose way was truly a “via crucis.” 
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden 
in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for 


70 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and 
buyeth that field.” And indeed-this humble soul hid 
in her heart the treasure which she found, and when 
she had to reveal it, sold all she had — father, mother, 
brother, sister, home, and friends. May she rest in 
peace! 


GOD’S CHOICEST GIFTS 
Sister M. Philip. 

I was born in Russia in the year 1897. When I was 
ten years old our family left our home in Russia and 
we sailed for the United States. My two sisters, my 
brother, and I were brought up in a strictly Orthodox 
Jewish belief. In Russia there had been a distinct sep¬ 
aration of Jews and Christians. We did not attend 
the same school with the Christian children, and we 
were forbidden to play with our Christian neighbors. 
In our new American home, however, which by God’s 
Divine Providence happened to be the small town of 

W-, there were only a few Jewish families. And 

when my parents saw that the other Jewish children 
associated with their Christian neighbors, we were not 
forbidden to do likewise. 

My dearest friends proved to be Catholics. Our 
non-Catholic neighbors had no attraction for me. 
There was one particular Catholic friend with whom 
I shared all my girlish confidences, and whom I shall 

name B-. I also spent a great deal of my spare 

time with an invalid Catholic girl whose patience 
under suffering won my admiration. As I was a fre¬ 
quent visitor at the home of these two friends I had 
numerous opportunities of observing their manner of 
worship. I did not understand it. In fact I had been 
taught to hate the cross, and all it stood for, but being 
71 


72 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


only a child it had no meaning to me. I was quite un¬ 
conscious that the beautiful Faith of my friends made 
any impression upon me. 

As the years slipped by I grew more and more dis¬ 
satisfied with the Jewish religion. I found myself 
wishing that I could go straight to God with every 
difficulty, as I knew my Catholic friends to do. They 
seemed so intimately united with God. The Jewish 
religion seemed so empty, and there was a void in my 
heart which it did not fill. I was unconsciously hun¬ 
gering for a God whom I could love and I did not 
find Him in my religion. 

All this time it did not at all occur to me to change 
my religion. Nor was I actually conscious of the fact 
that I was dissatisfied with it. The change in my 
views took place gradually. But one memorable day 
in August, 1914, at the age of seventeen, I picked up a 
story in which the Jewish religion was depicted as it 
is today, making the worship of God consist in a 
multitude of outward observances, and making of 
these observances an end in themselves, instead of a 
means, as God had intended they should be. As I read 
on, the utter emptiness of it all struck forcibly upon 
my mind and I became suddenly aware of the fact 
that I was thoroughly dissatisfied with my religion. 

I may add here that this was not a Catholic story, 
nor was it written for the purpose of convincing any 
one of the truth of any Christian belief. It was the 
story of a Jewish boy in Russia who became dissatis¬ 
fied with his religion and finally married a Christian 
girl. There was nothing elevating in the story. That 
it had the effect on me that it did, I can only attribute 
to the working of the Holy Spirit, who had so merci- 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 73 


fully heard the secret prayers of my dear friend B—. 

After closing the book, I found myself plunged in 
such desolation as I had never experienced before. It 
seemed to me that nothing could ever give me any com¬ 
fort or peace of mind. It was then that B-coming 

upon me suddenly and finding me in tears, de¬ 
manded, by a friend’s right, to know the reason of my 
grief. I tried to evade her entreaties, for I hesitated 
to explain the thoughts that troubled me. It seemed 
to me such a dishonorable act to be untrue to my 
religion, and I felt sure that my friend would regard 
me as disloyal. But she would listen to no refusal, 
and finally I cried out in an agony of grief: 

“I am so dissatisfied with my religion.” 

I shall never forget the joyous look on B-’s face, 

as she grasped eagerly at this straw of hope which 
seemed to her an answer to her fervent prayers for my 
conversion. 

“Would you like to become a Catholic?” she asked 
earnestly. 

“I don’t know,” I answered. “I don’t know what is 
right. I only know that I am dissatisfied with the 
Jewish religion.” 

But that was enough for my friend. She knew that, 
with the assistance of God, she could convince me of 
the truth of her Faith. She did not enter into any 
explanations then as the day was drawing to a close. 
But she asked me if I would object to wearing a medal 
that she would like to give me. Strange to say, I 
felt no objection to this, and so she pinned on me a 
scapular medal on which the image of Christ stood 
out in bold relief, and left me with the promise to 
tell me something of her Faith the following day. 



74 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


That night as I lay down to rest a feeling of peace, 
for which I could in no way account, settled over my 
troubled soul. I felt that the God I was searching for 
was very close to me. 

The following day with the beginning of B-’s 

instructions a new world unfolded itself before me. 
Day after day I drank in hungrily the words of truth 
which fell from her lips. Surely the Holy Ghost in¬ 
spired her! It took some time before all my preju¬ 
dices disappeared. To aid me in answering my ques¬ 
tions and objections, B- gave me “The Question 

Box” to read, in which I found the answers I was 
looking for. With this book she gave me the follow¬ 
ing prayer to the Holy Ghost for enlightenment, which 
later played a great part in my sister’s conversion. 
She requested me to repeat it daily, which I promised 
to do. The simplicity of the prayer appealed to me. 
I committed it to memory, and found myself repeat¬ 
ing it frequently during the day: 

“O Holy Spirit, take me for Thy disciple; guide me, 
illuminate me; sanctify me. Bind my hands that they 
may do no evil. Cover my eyes that they may see it 
no more. Sanctify my heart that evil may not dwell 
within me. Be Thou my God. Be Thou my Guide. 
Whithersoever Thou leadest me, I will go. Whatsoever 
Thou forbiddest me, I will renounce, and whatsoever 
Thou commandest me, in Thy strength, I will do. 
Lead me, then, O Lord, into the fullness of Thy 
truth.” 

At this time I also read “The Life of Christ” by 
Father Elliott, which filled me with admiration and 
love for Christ. I also read “The Faith of Our Fathers” 
by Cardinal Gibbons, and a Bible History. Thus I be- 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 75 


came acquainted with the life of Christ, and I had no 
difficulty in recognizing that He was Divine and that 
He was the promised Messias. During this year I re¬ 
ceived occasional instructions from a parish priest, 
whose help and kindness I shall never forget. Know¬ 
ing the sacrifices that lay before me he advised me to 
read “Fabiola” by Cardinal Wiseman. This beautiful 
story of the early martyrs inspired me with courage, 
and I was ready to meet death, if need be, in defense 
of the Catholic Faith, the truth of which I was firmly 
convinced. 

I realized the suffering I should cause my family. 
I knew that my mother would rather see her child lie 
dead before her, than to see her become a Christian. 
During this entire year my parents guessed nothing 
of my frame of mind, although they often chided me 
for spending so much of my time with my (Catholic 
friends. 

Towards the close of this year I felt myself called 
to consecrate my life entirely to God in the religious 
state. I had learned a great deal about this state of 

life from B-, who had a marked vocation to the 

religious life. So it is through her noble example 
and through her fidelity in corresponding with the 
graces which God had given her, that God led me to 
the true Faith and to the religious life. 

During the summer of 1915 I had an interview with 
the Superior of a religious order, who advised me to 
tell my parents of my desire to become a Catholic, and 
to ask their permission to enter the convent. I knew 
what their answer would be, but I felt that God in¬ 
spired this saintly religious to direct me in the mat¬ 
ter. Nevertheless the thought that I must break the 


76 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


news to my mother weighed heavily upon me and I 
tried to put off this pressing obligation. My few 
Catholic friends who knew of my plans were doing all 
in their power to aid me by their prayers and kind 
advice. 

One day in October my mother and I were alone. 
Some little thing had occurred that left an opening for 
me, so after uttering a secret prayer for strength I 
told my mother as calmly as possible that I intended 
to become a Christian. In the days that followed my 
father and mother appealed to me in different ways to 
give up my plans and to change my mind. Sometimes 
they would plead with me, at others they would use 
threats. To all these entreaties I made no answer. 
I promised nothing, and I did not argue. Their only 
hope lay in the fact that I was not baptized. 

From thenceforth I was forbidden to associate with 
my Catholic friends and I was watched wherever I 
went. As time went on and I said nothing more about 
the subject, my mother picked up a little hope. The 
year that followed was one of great suffering for me. 
I was watched so closely that I was unable to attend 
any services in the Catholic church or to have any 
article of devotion about me, and I had to satisfy my¬ 
self with an occasional stolen visit to the church. I 
told the priest who had instructed me how matters 
stood, and he advised me to remain at home for the 
present and do all I could for my mother until the 
opportunity would come to be baptized and to practise 
my Faith. 

This opportunity came in April, 1917. My parents 
allowed me to join my sister in the nearby city of 
M-, where they thought I should come in contact 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 77 

i 

with Jewish friends and banish forever from my mind 
any “fancies” I might still retain about changing my 
religion. God had other plans for me. I seized this 
opportunity and finished my instructions together 
with my sister. We were both baptized on the first 
Friday of August, 1917, and received our Divine Lord 
in Holy Communion on the following Sunday. 

And now, how my sister and I longed to give our¬ 
selves entirely to God as religious! But circum¬ 
stances prevented our entering the convent as soon 
as we desired. It was not until the Feast of the Im¬ 
maculate Conception, December 8, 1918, that we en¬ 
tered the Convent of Mercy at M-, to which Order 

I was attracted by becoming acquainted with the life 
of Mother Catherine McAuley, the foundress of this 
Congregation. 

Shortly after our entrance into the convent our 
mother was informed of the step we had taken, and 
assured that our love for her, far from being dimin¬ 
ished, was greatly increased by the teachings of our 
holy Faith. The shock of both my sister’s and my 
conversion was almost more than my mother could 
bear, but the dear Lord answered our prayers, and the 
effect of the shock was not as great as we had antici¬ 
pated. 

During the spring of 1919 my parents moved to 
M—, my father and youngest sister called on us on 
the eve of our clothing and begged us to come home 
before we took the step that we were about to take. 
To see my father so sorrowful was a veritable agony. 
We tried to comfort him by assuring him that they 
could come to see us often, and that if ever mother 
expressed the wish that she would like us to visit her, 


78 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


we would be permitted to do so. Our attempts to 
comfort him proved of no avail, and when he saw that 
our purpose could not be shaken he left us. As time 
went on my mother’s heart yearned for her children, 
and so she came to see us. After that she came often, 
but always with entreaties to return home. Before 
her death she seemed resigned to the step we had 
taken. My father and brother utterly disregard us, 
and we hear nothing from them except through our 
sister who pays us an occasional visit. May the Holy 
Spirit of God draw them to the haven of truth! 

In conclusion I wish to add how very grateful I am 
to the Merciful Father, who has singled me out from 
so many thousands of Jews and called me not only 
to the true Faith, but to be one of His closest fol¬ 
lowers in that Faith. 

“All ye who seek a comfort sure 
In trouble and distress, 

Whatever sorrow vex the mind 
Or guilt the soul oppress, 

Jesus, who gave Himself for you 
Upon the cross to die, 

Opens to you His Sacred Heart— 

Oh, to that Heart draw nigh!” 


A SPANISH CONVERT 


Monsignor Paya y Rico, the Bishop of Cuenca, a 
Cathedral City of Ecuador, South America, relates 
the following: 

A Jewish boy, belonging to a Spanish family, was 
sent to a school conducted by a rabbi, where he was 
given the Scriptures to read. The “Book of Kings” 
attracted the student’s attention, and he put this ques¬ 
tion to the rabbi: 

“Have the Jews a kingdom in any part of the world 
today ?” 

The rabbi replied: 

“This is not the place to discuss that question; let it 
suffice you to read the Scriptures.” 

“But have I not come here to be instructed?” asked 
the student. 

The rabbi was then forced to admit that there is 
now no Jewish kingdom. “In that case,” replied the 
young logician, “the sceptre has departed from Judah, 
and as it was promised that the sceptre should not 
depart from Judah until He who is appointed to come, 
shall come, it follows that he who was to come, has 
come!” 

Full of indignation, the rabbi severely punished his 
pupil and then took him to his father, saying: 

“Your son is an infidel.” Thereupon commenced a 
veritable persecution for the young lad. The father 
79 


80 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


confined him to his room, but he managed to secure a 
copy of the Scriptures and studied them eagerly. The 
53rd chapter of Isaias, relative to the “Man of Sor¬ 
rows,” attracted his particular attention, and he 
thought to himself: “This Jesus, whom the Christians 
call the Messias, might very well be He!” 

Restored at length to liberty and to the bosom of 
his family, from motives of prudence he kept silence 
as to his growing belief. The father, a wealthy mer¬ 
chant, gave a small sum of money every Saturday to 
each of his children. The young searcher after the 
truth carefully saved his and when the sum was 
sufficiently large embarked for Spain. After some 
wanderings he was befriended by a charitable and 
pious family, to whom he confided his secret. They 
presented him to a Canon of the Cathedral, who cor¬ 
dially received him and in due time he was baptized. 


HOW I FOUND THE TRUE FAITH 
Brother Anthony, S. A. 

As I travel back in memory to the days of my 
youth, it brings clearly before me the image of those 
I held most dear in our humble home at Wittenberg, 
Germany. There, I was born of Orthodox Jewish 
parents and attended the Lutheran public school, 
where we were given Biblical instruction. Conse¬ 
quently, I had a knowledge of the Christian religion. 
As in the case of most Jewish boys, I was Bar Mitzvah 
at the age of thirteen years. 

A year later I came to America, and like many 
young men I sought what I firmly believed was 
pleasure in the poor returns which this world has to 
offer in the guise of happiness. 

At the age of nineteen I found myself a poor de¬ 
luded creature, utterly disappointed in everything 
which I had undertaken. At the same time my health 
was failing; so I sought employment in the country. 

Having obtained a position in Warwick, Orange 
County, New York, where I was a stranger, I began 
to observe more closely those with whom I came in 
contact. On Sundays, especially, I would notice the 
calm and serene look of those going and coming from 
church. This seemed to touch a hidden spring within 
me, while an interior voice would whisper: “Seek ye 
also happiness.” 


81 


82 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Being at the time away from all Jewish surround¬ 
ings, and not having an opportunity to go to a Syna¬ 
gogue on the Feast of Yom Kippur, which began that 
year at sundown on Sunday, and knowing that there 
was but one God, I felt that He would hear my pray¬ 
ers whether from a Christian church or a synagogue. 
Having mustered up courage, I went to a church, 
but found very little consolation. The next day being 
Yom Kippur, I continued my fast until evening. 

After attending services several times in the Epis¬ 
copal Church, I came to the conclusion that I would 
visit some other Protestant church. With this 
thought in mind, I went to the Methodist church one 
evening. Being a total stranger, I quietly entered the 
last pew. Not a soul present knew me, or my belief. 
You may imagine my surprise when the preacher 
opened his sermon with these words: “Except ye be 
born again of water and the Holy Spirit, ye cannot 
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. ,, During the 
preaching of these sacred words the Spirit of God 
took possession of me, while at the same time a sort 
of trembling passed over me. After the service I 
waited for the clergyman with the intention of making 
known my feelings in regard to my spiritual unrest. 
I had a brief interview with him, but left very dis¬ 
heartened, and firmly believing that no one under¬ 
stood my ailment. Little did I know that He who 
was causing me all this uneasiness was simply 
smoothing out the rough places in my path, while 
leading me to Himself by devious ways. It was at 
this time that I uttered a little prayer of my own 
composition, which seemed to dispel the darkness that 
enclosed my whole being. It was as follows: 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 83 


“O God! the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 
teach me to know if Jesus be the Christ, the Messias 
who was to redeem Israel. Convince me of this and 
I will, at any cost, follow Him; but if He be not the 
Messias, make it clear to me.” 

As I look back now at the years of my first steps in 
seeking the truth, I classify myself as another “doubt¬ 
ing Thomas” to a certain degree. Having received 
no consolation from the Methodist minister, I contin¬ 
ued to attend services at the Episcopal ^Church. At 
one of these services I saw a Sister, and at the same 
instant a strange feeling came over me for which I 
could not account. Now I know that it was the voice 
of God speaking to my poor storm-tossed soul. At 
once I made up my mind to speak to her, but being a 
poor Jewish youth I found it difficult to do so. Still, 
man proposes, and God disposes; so one evening after 
my duties as a barber were over I called at her home. 
She informed me that there would soon visit Warwick 
a Missionary Father, whose counsel she advised me to 
seek. I did so and the result of my interview with 
Father W— was truly supernatural. A light seemed 
to penetrate the very inmost recesses of my soul and 
all doubts as to the Messias-ship of Christ disappeared. 
My prayer to the God of my fathers was gloriously 
answered. 

I was baptized in the Episcopal iChurch on Decem¬ 
ber 18, 1898, the Sunday before Christmas. I re¬ 
mained in Warwick two years, and sought by prayer 
to know the will of God, begging from Him the privi¬ 
lege of doing some work, no matter how humble, for 
Him. 

The answer to my prayer came about in this way. 


84 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


One day there came into my employer’s shop a jour¬ 
neyman barber, who begged to be taken on because he 
had a wife and children dependent upon him and they 

were in great want. Mr. A- said that there was 

not enough business for him to take on any more help. 
Moved by the man’s distress I volunteered to retire 
from the shop and give him my place. I had no sooner 
done so than the thought occurred to me to visit Gray- 
moor, near Garrison, on the Hudson where the Father 
Superior of the Society of the Atonement was striving 
to found a religious community of Franciscans in the 
Episcopal Church. Graymoor was not entirely strange 
to me, as I had visited the Friars and Sisters of the 
Atonement there on two former occasions. 

It was on Labor Day that I came into the Graymoor 
Valley and found there my permanent home and re¬ 
ligious vocation, for in 1901 I received from the 
Father Superior of the Society of the Atonement the 
habit of a Friar. 

During the first ten years of my religious experience 
as a Friar of the Atonement a void of an unknown 
character seemed to possess me. I was happy, aye, 
twice happy, still a lack of something I knew not 
what, seemed to mar the beauty of God’s work. What 
was it? I asked. The voice of God speaking within 
my heart said: “Follow the advice of your Superior.” 

Ah, happy Jewish barber, my Master still had a 
greater joy in store for me, for like Newman and 
Faber, he called still closer to Himself in the Holy 
Catholic Church my dear Superior and my poor self. 
The entire Society of the Atonement, both Friars and 
Sisters, as well as Tertiaries, were corporately re¬ 
ceived into the Catholic Church on October 30, 1909. 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 85 


After twenty-three years as a Lay-Brother at Gray- 
moor, I would not exchange places with a king, as my 
Master is the “King of kings.” 

“Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee, 

Trust Him when thy strength is small, 

Trust Him when to simply trust Him 
Seems the hardest thing of all. 

“Trust Him, He is ever faithful; 

Trust Him, for His will is best, 

Trust Him, for the Heart of Jesus 
Is the only place of rest. 

“Trust Him, then, through doubts and sunshine; 
All thy cares upon Him cast, 

Till the storm of life is over, 

And thy trusting days are past.” 


A RELIGION TO SATISFY THE LONGINGS 
OF MY SOUL 
E. M. B. 

New York City. 

Father and mother were of the Jewish faith but 
brought their children up to choose their own religion. 
I was rather an unhappy girl, had no ideals and no 
beauty in my life and was reaching out for something 
soul-satisfying. 

I attended theVilla Maria Academy High School in 
New York City and was very much impressed with 

my teacher, Sister P-. She was a woman of such 

high ideals, such faith and sanctity that she illumined 
every mind and soul with whom she came in contact. 
When I met these religious who had everything that 
my heart and mind found desirable, and who fol¬ 
lowed ideals which I did not realize existed, I natur¬ 
ally wished to know what it was that made them so 
different from the very good and highly ethical people 
that I had always known and loved. I began to study 

the iCatholic religion and asked Sister P-for books 

to read. 

In a few months I was convinced that the Catholic 
religion alone would satisfy the longings of my soul. 
In all good faith I went to my parents and told them 
of the step I wished to take, thinking they were as 
broadminded as they always professed to be. Of 
86 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 87 


course, I met with the usual opposition. My mother 
was milder than my father. He discussed the ques¬ 
tion from the worldly point of view, but finally said 
that I was old enough to appreciate what I antici¬ 
pated doing. Mother thought that a daughter who 
wished to put a barrier of this kind between herself 
and her family was unworthy. However, in accord¬ 
ance with their wishes, I waited a year. 

They accused me of being under the influence of the 
clergy, but at that time I had not met a single priest. 
My teacher, whom I admired so much, never tried to 
proselytize any of her pupils; her influence came en¬ 
tirely from her beauty of soul and the force of her 
example. At the end of the year I went to see one 
of the Paulist Fathers. I wanted to be baptized, but 
was afraid of a break with my parents and asked 

Father D- if I could conscientiously go on living 

as I had. He replied: 

“You cannot make bargains with God.” 

Father D- referred me to Father M-, to 

whom I went for instructions and in a few months— 
on November 7, 1900, I was baptized and the fol¬ 
lowing day received my First Holy Communion. Six 
months later I was confirmed. 

I continued to live at home until my mother’s death 
in 1921. During all those years it was my fervent 
hope to be able to show her that my change of Faith 
had increased filial love, rather than diminished it. 


FULFILMENT OF AN EARLY DESIRE 
Mrs. J. P. Fanning (nee Fannie Guggenheim), 
New York City. 

When very young I wanted to know why we were 
obliged to keep the Jewish holidays; was it simply be¬ 
cause our grandparents observed them before us, or 
was there some other reason? I had Catholic as well 
as Jewish girl friends and frequently went to the ser¬ 
vices in the Catholic church. When quite young 
I often played that I was a nun and when fifteen years 
old I wanted to become a Catholic. My mother stren¬ 
uously objected and punished me severely. Then and 
there I declared I would never die a Jewess. When 
I was eighteen I attended the first Mass of a young 
priest, and this made a profound impression on me. 
Five years later I married Mr. Fanning, who had 
been a Catholic, but who had not practised his reli¬ 
gion for thirteen years. We were married by a rabbi. 
All the time I was seeking for some religion to satisfy 
my soul. I finally joined the Salvation Army and 
worked with them for several years, but during that 
time I attended the services in many of the Protes¬ 
tant churches, never finding what I was seeking. 

We had two children, a boy and a girl. After being 
married twelve years my husband said, “I would like 
to go to some church,” so I asked him what church 
he wished to attend, adding: 

88 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 89 


“I think you ought to go to the church you were 
born in.” 

He asked if he might take our son with him and 
I said: 

“Yes, if it will do you any good.” 

This was in October, 1912, and as rosary devotions 
were held every evening I attended them with him. In 
November a mission was conducted in All Saints’ 
Church by the Dominican Fathers and I advised my 
husband to go and hear the Sunday night sermon. 
I even made arrangements with his sister to have 
him make the mission, without asking him first. After 
offering all kinds of excuses, he finally told me he 
could not get absolution, as we had been married out¬ 
side the Catholic Church. I said: 

“If I were the (Catholic and you the non-Catholic 
I would try in some way to remove the obstacle.” 

After much persuasion he made the mission and 
before the end of it we obtained a special dispensation 
and were married by the priest. Even then I had not 
the slightest idea of becoming a Catholic. Several 
weeks later a friend asked me what I would do if I 
heard that my children had been baptized Catholics. 
I said: 

“I would raise the roof off the house.” 

They had at that time been baptized, but she said 
nothing more about the matter. 

Happening one day to meet the pastor of Our Lady 
of Victory Church, where we had been married, I 
told him I would come in to see him in the near fu¬ 
ture. One Tuesday evening in December of that same 
year I attended the services in honor of St. Anthony. 
As we were leaving the church I remarked to my 


90 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


husband that I thought I would go in to see the 
pastor. Just then he stepped up and said: 

“I thought you were coming in to see me.” 

I then told him the remark I had just made, and 
went in that evening to see him and commenced a 
course of instructions. In a short time the Father 
said that if I desired to be baptized I could receive the 
Sacrament at any time as I was well-informed con¬ 
cerning the teachings of the Church. 

“I would like my children baptized first,” I replied. 

It was then that he told me that they had already 
been baptized. 

On January 13, 1913, I was received into the 
Church. I made my First Communion the following 
morning, and was confirmed in April. I have been 
most happy ever since, having found the peace and 
satisfaction that I had been seeking for so many years. 


THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD 
Lillian Mary Jackson, 

Chicago, Ill. 

Often people have asked me, “Why did you become 
a Catholic?” My answer is “Through the grace of 
God,” and every day since I have become a Catholic 
I have thanked God for that grace. 

There were courses of events which were to lead 
me eventually to my goal, the Holy Catholic Church. 

The first mile post was a so-called “Christian 
Church.” I was a small child when I attended this 
church, which held its services in a theatre. 

The next mile post was the Congregational Church. 
The Sunday school, which I sometimes attended, was 
conducted in a side room of the church. We attended 
services in the church also, but my recollection of it 
is that it was more of a school than a church. The 
services seemed very cold. 

I also attended the services at the Methodist 
Church, but this was merely a stopping place. There 
was nothing to hold me there. 

Then one day a girl friend took me to the Episcopal 
Church. This Church came the nearest to being what 
I was looking for—the Church of God. I was a little 
older than most children for my years because I knew 
a little more sadness, and it was the Church to which 
I was turning for consolation and happiness. I found 
91 


92 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


a good deal of this here and thought well of the Epis¬ 
copal Church. But I had not yet reached my goal. 

God has His own way of working out our destiny 
and He sent as His messenger of grace to me a very 
dear girl friend, whom I met in school. She was a 
Catholic. She took me to her home, and her mother 
(one of the saints of the earth) welcomed me into it. 
She had eight children, but she made room for one 
more. 

As time went on and I grew to know more and see 
more of this good Catholic family I felt that there 
must be something which held it together so closely 
and brought so much contentment and happiness into 
it which the world could not give. I would see the 
entire family go to church faithfully every Sunday 
and I knew they received the Sacraments of Penance 
and Holy (Communion. Gradually I came to realize 
that it was the Catholic Church and the good Catholic 
mother which brought about this happy condition. 

Occasionally I asked questions about the Faith, and 
these were always answered patiently and kindly. In 
this way a great deal of misunderstanding was cleared 
away, and I began to see the Catholic Church as it 
really is. Then I began to compare the Episcopal 
Church with the Catholic, and I could see that the 
Episcopal Church had taken the easy doctrines of the 
Catholic Faith and left out the hard ones. In the 
Episcopal Church one is not required to go to Con¬ 
fession before receiving Holy Communion, and it is 
not a duty for one to go to church on Sunday, etc. 

One day the thought came to me, “The Episcopal 
Church is just like an imitation diamond. They have 
tried to imitate the Catholic Church, which is the 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 93 


genuine diamond.” If there was anything I disliked, 
it was something that was not genuine and did not 
ring true, and the more I thought about it the more 
I realized that neither the Episcopal Church, nor any 
of the other Protestant Churches, was the one estab¬ 
lished by Jesus Christ, but that the Catholic Church 
was. It alone was built on a solid foundation. “Upon 
this Rock I shall build My iChurch, and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it.” 

The fact that the Catholic men I knew went faith¬ 
fully to church on Sundays also convinced me that 
there must be something real and true in the Catholic 
Faith. In the Protestant Churches the men go, as a 
rule, once in a while or not at all. The Protestant 
religion means little to most men. Just the other day 
I heard one say, “Why go to church? I can get the 
services on the radio.” How different with the Cath¬ 
olic men. No matter what the weather, or inconven¬ 
ience, they go to Mass. Then every one knows there 
is no other religion for which men and women give 
up all earthly pleasures and goods as do the nuns and 
priests. No religion can give the peace and content¬ 
ment to a human being which the Catholic Church 
can to those who receive the Sacraments of Penance 
and Holy Communion. 

While away in the summer I often attended ser¬ 
vices in the Catholic Church, and always felt instinct¬ 
ively that I was in God’s House. There was an awe 
and a reverence there, found in no other church on 
earth. Instead of a stage setting, there was a holy 
altar; instead of the ordinary street clothes of the 
minister, there were the holy vestments of the priest. 
There was no idle gazing around; no talking. When 


94 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


the Sanctus bell rang there were bowed heads and 
perfect silence. This, indeed, was God’s House; and 
I was always deeply impressed. 

During all this time my girl friend was fervently 
praying that I would receive the gift of faith. There¬ 
fore I should say that it was prayer and perseverance 
on her part that had much to do with my conversion. 

One Sunday, after attending Holy Mass in a little 
country town, my friend’s sister asked me if I would 
like to go to see a priest whom she knew. I was very 
glad to accept the invitation, for which, all unknown 
to this good family, I had been waiting a long time. 

The thorough course of instruction I received be¬ 
fore entering the one, true Fold intensified my be¬ 
lief in each and every one of its dogmas and practices. 
As I look back at my journey to the truth, I am more 
than ever convinced of the wonderful workings of 
Divine Providence. 

My uncle, a man of strong intellect and broad sym¬ 
pathies, was a great admirer of the Catholic (Church. 
When the time came for me to make my final choice, 
I received every encouragement from him. For many 
years his financial articles in the daily press, under 
the pen name of “Boersianer,” attracted the attention 
of men of note throughout the country. I feel sure 
that if he had been given more time he too would 
have entered the true Fold. He spent some time be¬ 
fore his death in the Sacred Heart Sanitarium in 
Milwaukee. The atmosphere of faith and the won¬ 
derful devotion of the nuns so impressed him that he 
wrote to different friends that if he stayed there much 
longer an irresistible force would lead him from 
Judaism to Catholicism. 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 95 


Never in the twelve years that I have been a Cath¬ 
olic have I had one doubt or regret for the step I took. 
As each day goes by I grow stronger in the Catholic 
Faith. I have only the deepest gratitude to God for 
the many graces and blessings He has given to me 
through His Church. 


THE DAUGHTER OF A RABBI 
Mrs. M. Stryker, 

New York City. 

My father was a rabbi. When I was a child I did 
not know any Christians and was not permitted to 
associate with them, but strange as it may seem one 
night while being put to bed the thought came to me 
that some day I would become a |Christian. I did not 
tell any one of this. Several different times in after 
years the same thought came to me—once while keep¬ 
ing company with a Jewish man I felt that I should 
not marry him as I ivould become a Christian. A few 
years later I came to America with some relatives to 
stay with my brother. In time I married a Jewish 
man and God blessed our home with three boys. 

As I had become dissatisfied with the Jewish reli¬ 
gion I commenced to go to different Protestant 
churches, but never with the idea of changing my reli¬ 
gion. One Sunday I started for a Protestant church, 
but as it was so late I thought the service would be 
nearly over by the time I arrived. It was very cold 
and as I came near a Catholic church I decided to go 
in. In the rear of the church was a statue of “Our 
Lady of Sorrows.” I went up to her and placed my 
hand on her in sympathy for the intense grief which 
was expressed on her face. A feeling of great happi¬ 
ness came over me. After that I often visited this 
96 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 97 


church. Later I met a priest and asked to receive in¬ 
struction in the Catholic Faith. It was on July 14, 
1908, that I received the Sacrament of Baptism, and a 
year later my three boys were received into the Church. 
In June, 1921, my eldest son was ordained to the 
priesthood. 


THE POWER OF GOOD BOOKS 
Adah Lazarus, 

New York City. 

Adah Lazarus was born in the West End of Lon¬ 
don, England, about 1850. Her parents were Jews, 
who adhered strictly to the precepts of their religion, 
and possessed an abundance of the goods of this world. 
Adah was the seventeenth child in a family of eighteen, 
and was born blind. Under the care of an able sur¬ 
geon, after nine operations, she could see imperfectly 
with the aid of glasses of extraordinary power. She was 
taught to read and write and sew, but was never skill¬ 
ful in these accomplishments. During her childhood 
her father moved with his family to the Island of 
Jamaica, giving her at this time a house and land, that 
on account of her affliction she might be well provided 
for. This property was taken from her a few years 
later when her father settled in New York and met 
with financial reverses. 

Books were Adah’s chief diversion and she read all 
that she could find, even borrowing from the servants, 
who were often of the Catholic Faith. These books, 
being mostly devotional, aroused her interest to such 
a degree that she sought a Catholic church and at¬ 
tended the services day after day, hoping to learn more 
of this religion to which she was so strangely attracted. 
Finally, approaching a priest, the Rev. Father ,Cum- 
98 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 99 


mings, pastor of St. Stephen’s Church, New York City, 
and confiding her difficulties to him, she asked for in¬ 
struction in the Catholic Faith. Father Cummings very 
kindly placed her in charge of his sister, a saintly wom¬ 
an, who gave her all possible aid in her search after 
truth; ministering also to her temporal needs, of which 
she was quite unmindful. 

With characteristic impatience she asked to be re¬ 
ceived into the Church without delay, which Father 
Cummings promised on condition that she would first 
inform her parents of her intention—a most difficult 
task, as she well knew the bitter opposition that would 
follow. After earnest deliberation she decided upon 
the following plan: One morning, before starting for 
Mass, she told one of her sisters that she was about to 
become a Catholic, obtaining her promise that she 
would communicate the fact to her father and mother. 
Having thus satisfied her conscience, she returned with 
a light heart, informing Father Cummings that she had 
done as he required. He therefore at once baptized 
her and she became a happy Christian, filled with faith 
and zeal for the Church. Making no effort to con¬ 
ceal her joy, when at home she sang hymns to the 
Blessed Virgin and practised devotions most unaccept¬ 
able to a Jewish household. Each day brought new 
trials. She cheerfully fasted all day on the days when 
she received Holy |Communion, as she left her home 
before the family were up and returned in the evening 
when she would be unobserved. One comfort after 
another was taken from her, until at last she was forced 
to seek temporary refuge elsewhere. 

Through Father Cummings’s kindness she was sent 
to a convent in Canada, where a home had been offered 


100 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


her; but after a few months her father asked for her 
return to his home, promising to care for her and al¬ 
low her the privileges of her religion. He was ex¬ 
tremely urgent, and she journeyed home again, only 
to find a renewal of the experience of the past. She 
was again deprived of religious liberty, and again 
left her father’s house, this time never to return, ex¬ 
cept occasionally to see her mother, and at her 
father’s death. She was unwilling to receive the shel¬ 
ter of any institution, public or private, and tried in 
various ways to earn a living, working hard but sel¬ 
dom with success. A voice of rare power and sweet¬ 
ness was her one gift, but, without the means of culti¬ 
vating it, it was of no practical use to her. Among 
her business enterprises was a newspaper stand, but 
being unconscious of all that did not appear to her in the 
direct line of vision through her extraordinary glasses, 
her box was often emptied of her earnings by mis¬ 
chievous boys while she was receiving money from 
her customers. For several years she was nursery gov¬ 
erness in a Catholic family, where the children were 
greatly attached to her. She had for a while the care 
of infants from the foundling asylum. She kept a 
small store, selling books and various useful articles, 
but owed more in the end than she ever received. Al¬ 
ways working, always poor, and always active in 
charities, she served our Lord in those less fortunate 
than herself, and received from her religion the great 
consolations usually accorded to so zealous a 
Christian. 

When apparently without resources of any kind, I 
learned one day that she was paying the rent for a 
woman in destitute circumstances who had several 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 101 


small children and a husband who was numbered 
among the “unworthy poor” for whom she probably 
begged. All her life she would give of the little she 
possessed, excepting fine wearing apparel; when this 
fell to her lot, she accepted it as her natural inherit¬ 
ance. She never begged for herself, but sometimes 
borrowed small sums when she had fasted several days 
and hunger compelled her. Those of other creeds 
asked: “Why does not the Catholic Church take care 
of her?” But she would be cared for in her own way 
and kind Catholic friends assisted her, one lady pay¬ 
ing her rent for many years that she might enjoy her 
own little home, humble though it was. Others helped 
her in various ways, most unexpected assistance arriv¬ 
ing in times of her greatest need from people far away 
whom she had not seen for years. One day, wishing to 
visit a friend who lived at a distance, and having no 
money, she went to the station and sat among the wait¬ 
ing crowd. I do not know why she did this, as it is 
quite contrary to the usual custom of people under 
such circumstances. After a while, to her surprise, 
she saw beside her on the seat a small roll of bills, and 
seeking an owner for it among those who sat near her, 
she was assured by all that it did not belong to them 
and that she had probably dropped it. The sum was 
just what she needed and as no one claimed it she 
joyfully purchased a ticket and took the train for the 
desired destination. 

Her Jewish traits were always predominant, tem¬ 
pered and softened by her frequent reception of the 
Sacraments of the Church. During the latter years of 
her life she was afflicted with a painful and incurable 
disease. Her strength gradually failing, she was con- 


102 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


fined to her bed and dependent entirely upon the char¬ 
ity of friends. She informed me that she was 
sometimes deprived of the only article of food she 
could eat, on one occasion being obliged to return it 
to the grocer because she could not pay for it. At this 
juncture her brothers and sisters came to her relief, 
and aided her to procure the comforts she needed. 
Her brother selected a room at the Astor Hospital, it 
being considered best to remove her to that place. She 
reluctantly consented to the change under the impres¬ 
sion that it was a Catholic institution. She was greatly 
distressed on discovering her mistake, and begged to 
be taken to her brother’s house. But her stay was 
brief, as she died within a week. 

Two days before her death one of her former pupils 
was impelled to go to her, a distance of many miles, 
without knowing of her extreme illness nor of her re¬ 
moval to a hospital. She was overjoyed to see her 
young friend, who, finding her so near her end, in¬ 
formed her old-time confessor, Father Freeman, S. J., 
who hastened to her bedside, heard her Confession, 
and requested the parish priest to give her the last 
Sacraments. 

In order to reconcile her to her new surroundings, 
her sister had been advised not to visit her for a day or 
two, so she died as she had lived, away from kindred 
and friends, but strengthened and consoled by the 
jChurch she had loved so well and for which she had 
forsaken father and mother and all who had been dear 
to her in early life. She had been cared for as the lilies 
of the field, though she had to “toil and spin,” and I 
trust she is now enjoying an eternal home, “not made 
with hands,” and happiness such as “eye hath not seen 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 103 


nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man 
to conceive,” and rest such as God gives to those who 
suffer patiently for Him and serve Him faithfully on 
earth. 

The funeral of Adah took place at the Catholic 
church in Ninety-sixth Street. Two men bore the 
coffin within the door, where it was met by the 
priest and an acolyte with the holy water, who pro¬ 
ceeded up the aisle, and following the coffin were the 
Jewish relatives of the deceased, also two Protestant 
and two Catholic friends—a most remarkable proces¬ 
sion, and one never to be forgotten. It occurred to me 
that our Lord could not but be pleased to see so many 
children of Israel, His chosen people, assembled in 
His own Church to show respect and affection for one 
of their own who had left them to become His disciple. 
These relatives, with one exception, followed her to 
her grave in a Catholic cemetery, having everything 
done according to the ritual of the Church, her brother 
paying the expenses of her funeral. May our dear 
Lord reward them with the greatest of all gifts—the 
gift of Faith! 


Catherine S. Hewit. 


THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE CHURCH* 


“In 1909 three boys, fifteen, thirteen and nine years 
old, were brought to me by their mother, a Jewish 
convert. The boys were Jews—bright young chaps. 
I put them through a course of instruction in Deharbe’s 
Catechism for three months, and I then baptized them 
and entered them in the advanced course in our Sunday 
school. They made their first Confession and received 
their First Holy Communion from my hands, and were 
confirmed by the Cardinal. Years pass so quickly: 
since then the second boy has seen war service on the 
Mexican border, the youngest is now in the service, 
and the eldest, Stephen, went to France. Here he was 
in the front ranks, was wounded once, cured, and went 
back. The second time was wounded and again went 
back; and the third time was struck and had to be 
carried to the rear on a stretcher. Who was the happy 
priest there to meet him and give him the last rites of 
the Church? One of our own dear priests, Father 
Hoey, of the Paulist Community. Three days before 
he died Stephen received the decoration of the Cross 
of War. Wonderful! A Paulist baptized him, heard 
his first Confession, gave him his First Communion 
and had him confirmed; and more wonderful to relate, 
it was a Paulist, on the battlefield of France, who was 

* From the Calendar of St. Paul’s Church, New York City, 
March, 1919. 


104 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 105 


with him to give him his last Communion. It is a 
small world, because the Catholic Church is Uni- 
versal. ,, 


Rev. John J. Hughes, C. S. P. 


A TWOFOLD FAVOR OF OUR LADY 
Jacques Walch, 

Lyons, France. 

The first letter I received from my son, Jacques, after 
his departure to the front, was dated December 20, 
1916, in which he wrote: “When I joined the regiment 
at Dijon we were billeted in the ruined chapel belong¬ 
ing to the Little Seminary. On awakening in the morn¬ 
ing, I was much surprised to see on the opposite win¬ 
dow the image of a Saint holding a lamb in his arms 
and a shepherd’s staff in his hand. My surprise was 
unutterable, when turning around, I saw the figure of 
another Saint painted on the window behind me. He 
was pointing to some words written in a book which 
he held. The window being too high, I was unable to 
distinguish them. At last, tired of his persistent gaze, 
I climbed upon a pile of planks, which brought me near 
enough to read the following words: In principio erat 
verbum” 

“What do they mean, mother? And who are these 
two good Saints who are watching over me?” 

I answered the questions in the following manner: 
“The first is probably not one of the Saints, but our 
Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Good Shepherd who 
cares in person for this little lost lamb, that He may 
bring it safely back to the fold; the second is the 
Beloved Disciple St. John, the Evangelist, who is 
106 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 107 


pointing out to you the first words of His Gospel: 
‘In the beginning was the Word/ ” 

On the 5th of February, 1918,1 went to Dijon to visit 
my son, who was in the hospital there, and I found him 
very ill, suffering from diphtheria, with a tempera¬ 
ture of 105, the result of an attack of scarlatina. 
On the following day the director came to me and 
said: 

“The state of your son is serious and complicated, 
because in addition to pleurisy he has congestion of 
the lungs, and bronchial pneumonia. All these com¬ 
bined are causing many complications which have 
reduced his whole body to a diseased condition, and 
the discharge from the lungs will eventually attack 
the brain and inevitably cause meningitis.” 

On hearing the dreadful fate which threatened 
him, Jacques said to the Sister who was nursing him: 

“Bring me some Lourdes water to drink as quickly 
as possible and rub some on my forehead.” 

I was so touched by these words that I immediately 
promised our Lady to take my son to Lourdes, if 
she would obtain his recovery. Next morning I went 
to the hospital fully expecting to find Jacques dead, 
but no! to everyone’s astonishment he was still living, 
and, contrary to the doctor’s expectations, the sup¬ 
puration of the lungs had ceased! In spite of this 
an operation was considered necessary, which in¬ 
volved the removal of the patient to the operating 
room at some distance from the hospital, and such a 
removal appeared impossible. While we were thus 
debating upon the course to adopt, the Dominican 
priest who had been with my son came up to me and 
said: 


108 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


“Madame, your son asks for the grace of Baptism; 
will you obtain his father’s consent?” 

My husband, who had arrived the day before, was 
with us, and on hearing this he flew into a violent 
rage, exclaiming: 

“No, no! I will not hear of it.” 

Then there followed a terrible struggle in the soul 
and heart of my husband. At last, persuaded by his 
son and myself, he turned to leave the room, weeping 
like a child, and said: 

“I shall leave you for a quarter of an hour. Do 
what you like in my absence.” 

No time was lost. The priest hastily asked my son 
a few necessary questions regarding the doctrines of 
the Church, to which he replied without hesitation, 
though in a feeble voice. Four nuns, two priests, and 
I knelt at the foot of the bed, where we were to wit¬ 
ness a miracle: a dying person brought back to life 
by the Baptismal water of Jesus Christ. 

Scarcely was the ceremony concluded when they 
placed Jacques on a stretcher, and he passed out of 
the ward of St. Joseph. There were forty other pa¬ 
tients present in an attitude of great reverence, happy 
witnesses of this favor. On seeing his father standing 
by the ambulance, Jacques said: 

“You see, father, I am not dead.” And then he 
gaily added: “Long live the Republic!” 

On arriving at the operating room, another great 
problem confronted us. Though he had accepted 
death, had Jacques sufficient strength to take the an¬ 
esthetic and bear the operation? No. Everyone felt 
that to expect this was to expect the impossible. Yet, 
what was our amazement when we heard all was over 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 109 


and that he had come through it safely. They had 
never before operated upon a newly baptized Christ¬ 
ian, one regenerated by the waters of Baptism, waters 
of salvation as well for the body as for the soul. God 
had indeed given us a proof that Baptism is the source 
of life. 

On seeing what had taken place, my husband said 
to me: 

“It is a miracle such as God worked for our an¬ 
cestors in Palestine.” 

“This sickness,” I said, “like that of Lazarus in 
the Gospel, was not unto death, but for the life of our 
dear child and for the glory of God.” 

Then, all being over, the Dominican priest, ap¬ 
proaching Jacques, addressed him in the following 
words: 

“God wants something of you, my son; this favor 
is too great, too evident, for it to be possible that you 
alone should benefit by it. When God bestows so 
great a grace upon one of His creatures, He expects 
a great return. Listen to the Gospel of the day: 

‘This man went his way and proclaimed to the Jews 
that Jesus Christ had healed him/” 

Madame B. Walch,* 

Lyons, France. 

* Madame Walch and several of her other children, all of 
the Jewish Faith, had, previous to the above incident, been 
baptized in the Catholic Church. 


A REDEMPTORIST PRIEST 
Rev. Martin Godehard Hepner, C.SS.R. 

Martin Godehard Hepner was attracted from ten- 
derest years to Jesus, the Lamb of God, the “King of 
the Jews/’ who died on the cross. When seventeen 
and one-half years old he was refused permission by 
his parents to enter the Catholic Church and they 
forced him to discontinue his studies at the Catholic 
school, where he had been for less than a year. 

He came to America four years later, and, as rec¬ 
ommended by some Catholic friends in Germany, he 
sought out the Redemptorist Fathers for instruction 
in the Catholic Faith. There he found that St. Clem¬ 
ent Hofbauer, whose picture had made a peculiar im¬ 
pression upon him when a boy, was one of their 
Order. That fact, as well as devotion to the Passion, 
and to the Blessed Virgin, especially under the title 
of “Mother of Perpetual Help,” created in him, fol¬ 
lowing his conversion, a desire to become a member 
of the Order of Redemptorists. One year and a half 
after his Baptism he entered the Order as a student 
and was ordained to the priesthood on July 2, 1908. 


110 


THE SIGN OF THE CROSS 
Rose Mary Goldstein, 

Newark, N. J. 

When I was eight years of age we lived near St. 
Joseph’s Church in Newark. Being alone one day on 
the street I noticed two girls about my age coming 
from the church. I was attracted by the gold cross 
and chain which one of them wore. Then I wondered 
why I could not wear one, not knowing at that time 
the difference between the Jewish and Christian 
Faiths. I desired to have a cross, but never said any¬ 
thing to my parents. 

When I was about ten years of age we moved 
around the corner. Then I started to play with these 
girls, some of whom were Catholics and other Prot¬ 
estants. One night while we were at play one of 
the girls suggested that we go for a walk. As all 
agreed, we started out and before returning home 
we visited St. Joseph’s Church for a few minutes. 
Upon entering the church, I thought I was in a palace, 
and often visited the church with the girls, but never 
said anything to my mother about it. 

One night, not knowing anyone was watching me, 
before retiring I knelt down by the side of my bed, 
made the sign of the cross, said some prayers which 
my friends had taught me, again making the sign of 
the cross, and then jumped into bed. The next morn¬ 
ing my father told me he had seen me the night be¬ 
lli 


112 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


fore from his room. He did not scold me, but told 
me never to make the sign of the cross again, be¬ 
cause Jewish people were not allowed to make it. 
I never blessed myself again until I became a Catholic. 

A short time after this incident we moved to the 
Jewish section of the city and I lived as a strict 
Orthodox Jewess for six years. 

Once more we moved and some of my new associ¬ 
ates were Catholics. One of the girls worked in the 
same place with me and we came home together 
every afternoon. After waiting for her one day she 
told me that she and another girl were going to 
church and invited me to accompany them. Just to 
accommodate the girls I went. It was Christmas week, 
1919. They asked me if I would like to go up to see 
the Crib, but I answered “No.” I was so determined 
not to see it that I sat in the last seat in the church. 

On October 9, 1920, as I was going to work with 
a Catholic lady, I noticed quite a number of people 
coming out of the church. I wondered what was 
going on and I inquired of my companion. She ex¬ 
plained what a lovely month October is and that 
many of the faithful attend Mass daily to honor our 
Blessed Lady. I became interested and asked what 
I would have to do to become a Catholic. She looked 
at me in surprise and told me to go to see Father 

M-. That same evening I called to see him and 

when I told him that I wanted to become a Catholic, 
he arranged for instructions. It was on December 
13, 1920, that I was baptized and a short time after 
received my First Holy Communion. About ten 
months later my father discovered my rosary and 
learned for the first time that I had embraced the 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 113 


Catholic religion. I lived at home for a while after 
this, but things were so unpleasant that it became 
necessary for me to take up my abode elsewhere in 
order to practise my religion as I desired. 

My daily prayer is that God may give those near 
and dear to me, and all unbelievers, the gift of faith, 
so that they too may enjoy that “peace and happiness 
which surpasseth all understanding/’ which can only 
be found in the bosom of our Holy Mother, the Catho¬ 
lic Church. 

“When I am dying, how glad I shall be 

That the lamp of my life has burned out for 
Thee; 

That sorrow has darkened the path that I 
trod ; 

That thorns and not roses, were strewn o’er 
the sod; 

That anguish of spirit full often is mine, 

Since anguish of spirit so often was Thine. 

My cherished sweet Jesus, how glad I shall 
be, 

To die with the hope of a welcome from Thee.” 


AN ANSWER TO PRAYER 
Walter M. Solomon, 

Cleveland, O. 

I first became acquainted with the Catholic Faith 
in 1914 through our housekeeper, who was a Catholic, 
and through her I also learned of the “Thirty Days 
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin.” Being desirous of 
obtaining a special favor, I promised that if it were 
granted after saying the prayer that I would attend 
Mass on Easter. The favor was granted and I kept 
my promise. From that time I was convinced of the 
truth of the Catholic Faith, but because of the hos¬ 
tility of my father towards Catholicity I decided to 
wait until I was eighteen years of age before being 
baptized. 

During the late war I entered the service and while 
at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, I was baptized by the 
Catholic Chaplin on September 6, 1918. 


114 


THE POWER OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT* 
Rev. Hermann Cohen, 

Hamburg, Germany. 

Hermann, the son of David-Abraham Cohen and 
Rosalie Benjamin, was born on the 10th of November, 
1821, at Hamburg, Germany. 

Among the numerous Jewish families who have for 
centuries inhabited this city, so famous for com¬ 
mercial activity, the family of [Cohen have held a dis¬ 
tinguished position, on account of their wealth and 
their intelligent sagacity in matters of business. 

They are descended from the ancient tribe conse¬ 
crated to the service of the Temple at Jerusalem. 
The name of Cohen, as Hermann mentions in his 
Confessions, means, in Hebrew, Priest, and those who 
bear this name are descendants of the High Priest 
Aaron of the tribe of Levi. When the Cohennim 
are present at the Synagogue, they exercise a sem¬ 
blance of priesthood. They ascend the steps of the 
sanctuary, stretch forth the hands and bless the 
people. Hermann remembered having seen his father 
and brothers give this benediction. 

But the Jewish worship at Hamburg had followed 
the progress and usages of modern civilization. Those 
who considered themselves as the more enlightened 

* This sketch is largely derived from “The Life of Father 
Hermann’ by the Abbd Chas. Sylvain. 

115 


116 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


among the children of Abraham, having a fancy for 
reform, produced a kind of Neo-Judaism, in which 
the Hebrew tongue itself was neglected. The preach¬ 
ing was in German, the Talmud was no longer read, 
and several other innovations gradually effaced al¬ 
most the last vestiges of the ancient rite of the Syna¬ 
gogue. The members of the Cohen family held with 
the reformers and took their children to the new 
temple. Little Hermann, however, felt an instinctive 
repugnance to these novelties, and took a deeper 
interest in the ancient ceremonies that had been 
hitherto observed. 

'‘When,” he said, “I saw the rabbi mount the steps 
of the sanctuary, draw aside the curtain, and open 
a door, I was filled with awe and expectation.” His 
youthful soul already had that presentiment and need 
of the Infinite, with which it was one day to be satis¬ 
fied. These ceremonies, notwithstanding all that 
was grand and imposing in them, always left a void 
in his heart. Hermann affirmed that to his childish 
longings to penetrate the mysterious meanings of the 
Jewish ceremonial was joined a great delight in 
prayer. Sometimes of a morning he would invite his 
little sister to join him in reciting prayers, singing 
hymns, and chanting the Psalms. This was, as it 
were, the prelude to those still deeper and more sub¬ 
lime emotions which they were both one day to ex¬ 
perience before that Tabernacle containing no longer, 
like that of the Jews, the Tables of the Law and the 
Bread of Proposition, but the Author of the Law 
Himself, the true Bread of Life. 

But we must not anticipate. These first impres¬ 
sions doubtless passed away, but they left deep traces 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 117 


in the child’s mind, since, more than thirty years 
later, he had not forgotten them. 

David Cohen wished his sons to receive an edu¬ 
cation suitable to their fortune. Hermann and his 
elder brother, Albert, were sent to the college highest 
in repute in Hamburg, which was directed by a 
Protestant. When four and a half years old, seeing 
his elder brother learning to play the piano, he asked 
and obtained leave to take lessons also. It was then 
that his extraordinary gift for music first declared 
itself. He quickly outstripped his brother, and, at 
the age of six, played the airs of all the operas then 
in vogue, besides occasionally indulging in improv¬ 
isations which surprised the most competent judges. 
It seemed as if he were superior in everything. 

“For French, Latin, and our other studies,” he said, 
“it was always the same. It was I who won all the 
prizes, and obtained all the praises, and I knew so 
well how to show myself off to advantage, that, 
through my fault, my poor brother must have suffered 
very much.” 

Proud of her Hermann, Mme. Cohen had thought 
of his following the course of studies at the Univer¬ 
sity, and she encouraged him to wish the same. The 
child’s progress in Latin and Greek was so rapid, that, 
when nine years old, he was sufficiently advanced to 
enter the third class at the public “Gymnasium.” 
But here a difficulty arose. No pupil in this class was 
under fourteen years of age, and it was thought in¬ 
advisable that so young a boy should be received 
into it,—among other reasons, lest his comrades, from 
jealousy, should subject him to ill treatment. Be¬ 
sides, the medical men declared that his precocity was 


118 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


a serious peril to his health, and that his over-active 
brain required repose. It was decided therefore that 
he should remain at home for a year. The result of 
this year, unhappily, proved in every way prejudicial to 
his character and disposition. While at college he had 
not been seriously taught any of the principles of 
religion. All the religious instruction attempted there 
consisted of a course of Biblical history. His early 
religious impressions appear to have completely dis¬ 
appeared when he left school. He saw around him 
in his family none but those absorbed in commercial 
affairs, and having no aim beyond that of material 
and personal interests, or temporal honors, advan¬ 
tages and pleasures. 

“Our house,” he said, “was like an ant-hill, in con¬ 
tinual movement with persons going in and out. In 
every direction merchandise; everywhere people 
counting money; and the only apparent difference 
among them all was marked by the greatness of their 
fortune, and the superlative honors rendered to those 
who had most wealth.” 

Such were the examples before Hermann; such the 
absence around him of all practice of religion, when 
he was handed over to Liszt to be perfected in the art 
of music. 

Hermann was then fourteen years old; the ladies 
of Court, the diplomatic circles, the nobility, 
thronged to his concerts. And yet, in the midst of 
these triumphs, the exaggerated praises and exciting 
entertainments, Hermann was not happy. His self- 
love was gratified, and his self-appreciation dispensed 
him, in his own opinion, from the need of study; but 
an indefinable sadness, the sense of some vast want 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 119 


and craving seemed to have invaded his existence, 
and shed over him the air of melancholy. At times 
he felt a longing to be a Christian. One day, his 
master, who had advised him to enrich his under¬ 
standing by the study of philosophic writings, made 
him a present of a Bible, in which he wrote the Divine 
words of our Saviour: “Blessed are the pure of heart, 
for they shall see God! ,, 

In after years Hermann depicts the company of ar¬ 
tists with whom he habitually lived, while giving 
himself up to all kinds of dissipation. In a short time 
he even lost the courteous and distinguished manners 
insensibly contracted in his habitual intercourse with 
people of rank. He abandoned himself to gambling 
with a frenzy, risking everything, and seeking only 
the emotions that arise from sudden strokes of fortune 
by which the most careful combinations are destroyed. 
A piano was in his apartment, but it remained un¬ 
touched. 

In 1842 Hermann went to London and there gave 
lessons on the piano, but found it impossible to satisfy 
the multiplicity of his engagements among the Eng¬ 
lish aristocracy. He closed the season with a bril¬ 
liant concert, and being now in the possession of 
abundant means, he departed for Italy. He jour¬ 
neyed backwards and forwards between London, 
Paris and Venice. In October, 1846, we find him, 
after his return from a lengthy tour in Germany, living 
with his friend Adalbert de Beaumont, in Paris. 
Here he continued his artist-life; putting into prac¬ 
tice the advice formerly given him by a man who had 
greatly influenced the destinies of his youth. The 
science of happiness which this man had taught him, 


120 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


entirely consists in the art of inspiring those persons 
of whom one has need, with a good opinion of one’s 
self, by a highly respectable exterior, prudent con¬ 
duct, zealous toil, and real talent. He guided him¬ 
self by these principles, “appearing,” he says, “no 
worse than three-fourths of the men around me; tol¬ 
erating everything in others, allowing myself unlimi¬ 
ted license, rendering a service if the opportunity 
came my way, and making no scruple to do a bad turn 
in retaliation for anything that might have provoked 
me. And is not this the life of nearly all the young 
men of the world of artists and of loungers in salons? 
I do not exaggerate; 1 affirm it. All the young men 
of my acquaintance lived as I did, seeking pleasure 
wherever it was to be found, ardently desiring riches, 
in order to be able to follow all their inclinations and 
gratify every caprice. As to the thought of God, it 
never even crossed their minds. All their cares and 
wishes were concentrated on the pleasures of this 
world and earthly things: their only moral code con¬ 
sisted of that outward prudence and propriety which 
kept them clear of any interference from human tribu¬ 
nals.” 

As has been said, the passion for gambling had tak¬ 
en complete possession of Hermann and he lost con¬ 
siderable sums of money. He sought in vain for hap¬ 
piness amid the intoxicating excitement of play. 
For him God had poisoned the cup of all merely hu¬ 
man delights, and his eager lips found in them nothing 
but inexhaustible and increasing bitterness. God was 
drawing him to Himself by disgust with the world. 

One Friday in the month of May, 1847, the Prince 
de la Moscowa begged him to take his place as con- 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 121 


ductor of an amateur choir in the Church of Saint- 
Valere, rue de Bourgogne. Hermann, who lived near, 
went as requested. At the moment of Benediction 
he experienced “a strange emotion, and, as it were, 
remorse, at sharing in this Benediction to which he 
had no right of any kind.” And yet he felt in this 
“sweet and powerful emotion” a comfort he had never 
known before. He came again on the following 
Fridays, and always, at the moment when the priest 
raised aloft the monstrance for the Benediction of 
the kneeling faithful, he experienced the same im¬ 
pression: he trembled in spite of himself, and it was 
only the presence of others which restrained him 
from shedding abundant tears. He could not account 
for these unusual, extraordinary, and overpowering 
feelings, which took possession of him always under 
the same circumstances. The month of May came 
to its close, and, with it, the musical solemnities in 
honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but Hermann, 
without attempting to explain to himself the instinct¬ 
ive attraction which overmastered him, continued to 
return every Sunday to Mass. 

Early in July he spoke to the Duchesse de Rauzan 
of his inexplicable state of mind, and after endeavor¬ 
ing to describe his condition ended by begging her 
to introduce him to a Catholic priest, as he exceeding¬ 
ly desired to be instructed in the doctrines of a re¬ 
ligion to which he felt himself irresistibly drawn. 
After several delays he made the acquaintance of 
Abbe Legrand, priest of the Archdiocese of Paris, to 
whom he told all that had been passing within him. 

“He listened with interest,” he says, “then he ex¬ 
horted me to be calm, to persevere in my present dis- 


122 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


positions, and to have entire confidence in following 
the path which Divine Providence would assuredly 
point out to me. . . . The very kind and benevolent 
reception I met with from this ecclesiastic made 
a deep impression upon me, and at once dispelled 
one of my most inveterate prejudices. I had a 
dread of priests! Alas! I only knew them as they 
'are portrayed in worthless romances, as intolerant 
men, in whose mouths are incessant threats of ex- 
communication and the flames of hell, and I found 
myself in the presence of a highly educated man, mod¬ 
est, kind and frank, expecting everything from God 
and nothing from himself. It was with these impres¬ 
sions that I set out for Ems, in Germany, where I was 
to give a concert. 

“I had scarcely reached this town before I went to 
seek the priest of the little Catholic church, to whom 
M. Legrand had given me an introduction. The sec¬ 
ond day after my arrival was Sunday, the 8th of 
August, and, without any false shame, in spite of the 
presence of my associates, I went to Mass. There, 
little by little, the chants, the prayers, the Presence 
Invisible, which nevertheless I realized — of a 
superhuman power, began to agitate and trouble me 
and make me tremble; in a word, Divine grace was 
pleased to descend as a shower upon me, in all its 
strength. At the moment of the Elevation, I suddenly 
felt, forcing themselves through my eyelids, a deluge 
of tears, which continued to flow with a voluptuous 
abundance down my burning cheeks. Oh, ever mem¬ 
orable moment for the salvation of my soul! I 
have thee here present in my mind, together with all 
the heavenly sensations thou broughtest with thee 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 123 


from on high! And I ardently invoke the Almighty 
and All-merciful God, that the exquisite remembrance 
of its beauty may remain engraved forever in my 
heart, together with the ineffable stigmata of a faith 
that is proof against every assault, and a gratitude 
commensurate with the benefit with which He 
deigned to overwhelm me! ... 

“I remember having sometimes wept in my child¬ 
hood, but never, no, never, did I weep such tears as 
these! And while I was thus inundated, I felt, 
springing from the depths of my heart and con¬ 
science, the keenest remorse for all my past life. 
All at once, and spontaneously, as if by intuition, I 
began to make, interiorly to God, a general and rapid 
confession of all my enormous misdoings from the 
time of my infancy: I saw them there, spread out be¬ 
fore me by thousands; hideous, repulsive, revolting, 
deserving all the anger of the Sovereign Judge. . . 
And yet at the same time I felt also, with a calm 
hitherto unknown, which like a healing balm was 
shed over my soul, that the God of Mercy would 
pardon me all; that He would turn away His eyes 
from my crimes, that he would have pity on my sin¬ 
cere contrition and my bitter sorrow . . . Yes, I 
felt that He forgave me, and that He accepted, in ex¬ 
piation for them, my firm resolution to love Him 
above all things, and be converted from henceforth 
to Him. When I went out of this church at Ems, I 
was already a Christian. . . Yes, as much a Christian 
as it is possible to be when one has not as yet re¬ 
ceived Holy Baptism!” 

Impatient to tell the Abbe Legrand what had be¬ 
fallen him, Hermann returned to Paris the following 


124 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


day. He received a course of instruction, solid, lumi¬ 
nous, full of warmth and life. 

On the 15th of August, the Abbe Ratisbonne was 
to administer Baptism to four Jews in the Chapel of 
the Rue de Regard. M. Legrand proposed to his 
young catechumen to attend this ceremony. He did 
so: and his emotion was so great that it was only by 
a strong effort that he restrained himself from quit¬ 
ting his place to kneel with the others at the feet of 
the priest and ask that he also might receive Holy 
Baptism. 

Father Ratisbonne was himself a son of Israel, and 
the choir was composed entirely of “converts of the 
stem of Jesse,” all, as Hermann wrote, “like myself, 
the offspring of Abraham.” And from this choir of 
Christian virgins of Israel, arose, in a sublime chant 
the prayer most fitted to touch the heart of a son of 
the tribe of Levi: 

“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, have pity on 
the Children of Israel!” 

“Jesus, Divine Messias expected by the Jews, have 
pity on the Children of Israel!” 

“Jesus, the Desired of all nations; Jesus, of the 
tribe of Judah; Jesus, who didst heal the deaf, the 
dumb and the blind, have pity on the (Children of 
Israel!” 

“Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the 
world, forgive them, for they know not what they 
do!” 

Hermann desired to receive Baptism in this 
chapel, where everything reminded him of the tender 
mercies of Him who came to save the lost sheep of 
the House of Israel. It was, however, on Saturday, 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 125 


the 28th of August, at three in the afternoon in the 
convent chapel of Notre Dame de Sion that the Bap¬ 
tismal water flowed upon his brow, and the name of 
Hermann was exchanged for that of Marie-Augustine- 
Henri. 

“My whole frame quivered/’ he tells us, “and I 
felt such strong and keen emotion that I can only 
compare it to an electric shock. My bodily eyes were 
closed, but at the same moment the eyes of my soul 
were opened to a Divine and supernatural light. I 
was as if plunged in an ecstasy of love, and, like my 
patron Saint, I seemed, at one bound of the heart, 
to have reached the ineffable joys of Paradise, there 
to drink of the river of delights by which the Lord 
leads His elect. 

“The touching paraphrase of a passage in the 
Epistle to the Romans, applied to the occasion by 
the Abbe Legrand, still lingers in my ears. The 
Apostle enumerates all the grounds of his hope for 
the salvation of the true children of Abraham. And 
I also am one of these children, and I bless God 
who has delivered me from Egyptian bondage to 
receive me into the number of His sons.”* 

Hermann, the young and charming artist, had ceased 
to exist. The grace of Baptism had vanquished 
and transformed him, as Saul was transformed on the 
way to Damascus. He would have wished to take 
an immediate farewell of the world, “to seek an asy¬ 
lum in the peaceful retirement of a monastery, in 
order to consecrate himself exclusively to the service 
of the Lord;” but the debts he had contracted were 
heavy and must be paid. It was these obligations 

* Letter to Father Marie-Alphonse Ratishonne. 



126 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


of conscience which detained him in the world and 
compelled him for a time to continue his ordinary 
relations with it. The Holy Eucharist was his life. 
He communicated frequently, heard several Masses 
daily, often visited the Blessed Sacrament and never 
missed any solemnity celebrated in Its honor. 

In order to liquidate his obligations, and thus be 
able to break the bonds which held him in the world, 
he prepared to give a concert in Paris. A Marist 
Father who accompanied him has said that “his 
success was immense. He seemed to surpass him¬ 
self, and the hall resounded with a thunder of ap¬ 
plause. After the concert he rejoined me in the little 
room where I had hidden myself. 

“ ‘Ah!’ he exclaimed, stretching out his arms to me, 
‘Now I have done with the world forever! With 
what happiness, after my last note, I bowed to bid 
it farewell!’ ” 

He consulted a number of priests in regard to his 
vocation and finally made a retreat, during which he 
decided to become a Discalced Carmelite. It was in 
the Convent of Le Broussey, near Bordeaux, that 
Hermann spent his novitiate and on Oct. 6, 1849, the 
eve of the Feast of the Holy Rosary, he received the 
coarse and heavy habit of the sons of St. Teresa, 
and changed his name for that of Brother Augustine- 
Marie-du Saint Sacrament. On October 7, 1850, he 
made his religious profession and was then sent to 
Agen to prepare for the priesthood. As a means of 
rest and recreation amid his theological studies he 
composed his remarkable collection of Hymns to the 
Blessed Sacrament. 

The religious life of Father Hermann was almost 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 127 


entirely spent in preaching, not only in France, but 
often in foreign countries, everywhere sowing the 
seed of truth. God almost always blessed his words 
by the conversion of sinners. 

He died at Spandau, whither he went to organize 
the religious ministrations for the French prisoners. 
In administering the Sacrament of Extreme Unction 
to two soldiers dying of smallpox he contracted the 
disease. He had a slight hurt in the hand, and, through 
this, had been inoculated with the virus. On the 
evening of January 19, 1871, he was much worse and 
he was asked if he would not like to see his confessor. 

“Then I am dying?” he rejoined; adding, “May the 
most holy will of my God be done! Besides, if I 
were to recover, I should see still more sad things; 
only, I should have wished to work again to win souls 
for Jesus!” 

He arranged everything relating to the interests of 
his dear prisoners, made his Confession and received 
Holy Communion, which was brought to him at nine 
o’clock in the evening for the last time. At eleven 
o’clock his nurses asked for his blessing. 

“Willingly, my children!” he said, and insisted on 
raising himself on his bed to perform this pious act 
with more becoming dignity. 

He stretched forth his arms, and pronounced slowly 
and solemnly the words of benediction. Exhausted 
by the effort, he fell back on his couch: 

“And now, O my God,” he murmured, “into Thy 
hands I commend my spirit!” 

These were his last words. He remained calm and 
motionless all night. Next morning, about ten 
o’clock, he made a slight movement, and a few min- 


128 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


utes afterwards his soul was in the presence of its 
Creator. Sweetly and piously he had fallen asleep 
in the bosom of God,— that God for whom his heart 
had never ceased to beat from the happy moment 
when he had first found Him. 


A HAPPY DEATH 
Nettie Nussbaum, 

New York City. 

An edifying story is that of the conversion of 
Nettie Nussbaum, as told by one of her Catholic 
school friends: 

“Nettie attended Holy Rosary Academy, New York 
City, as a boarder. She asked leave to study the cate¬ 
chism and was very devout in church. After leaving 
school she kept in touch with her Catholic friends. 
She visited me after her marriage and told me she 
had married a Jew, but said: T wanted to marry a 
Catholic, but my parents wanted me to marry a Jew.’ 
God blessed their union with a baby girl, whom 
Nettie named Gertrude. One day as the child was 
creeping on the floor she found a match and lighted it. 
The mother’s thin dress caught on fire and in saving 
the child the mother was badly burned. She was 
taken at once to Flower Hospital and upon her arriv¬ 
al asked for a Catholic priest. A Dominican 
Father was called and at Nettie’s request he baptized 
her. She also asked that I be sent for and when she 
saw me she said, with a happy face: T am dying a 
Catholic.’ After leaving school she had never missed 
Mass on Sundays, and on the Christmas before her 
death she heard three Holy Masses.” 


129 


THE ZEAL OF A JEWISH CONVERT 
Mrs. Charles Eichenberg, 

East Orange, N. J. 

Eleven weeks after my marriage I was taken sick 
and sent to St. Michael’s Hospital in Newark, N. J., 
which is conducted by the Franciscan Sisters. The 
room I occupied was called “Loretto.” It was quite 
near the chapel and every afternoon I could hear 
the Sisters praying and singing. One day I said to 
the Sister in charge: 

“Aren’t you ashamed to kneel before the statues?” 

“No, we are not ashamed,” she replied. “When 
we kneel before a statue we do not adore it; the statue 
itself is lifeless. If you were to look at a picture of 
your mother and father, would this act not recall 
their presence to you and make you think of them 
and love them? It is the same when we look at, or 
kneel before, statues. They remind us of our Lord 
and the Saints in Heaven.” 

I was in the hospital a month and while there met 
Mrs. L—, who was a convert from Judaism. After 
leaving the hospital she came to see me often, but I 
tired of her talking so much about religion. Finally 
when I went to the country for a visit I did not give 
her my address. In some way she learned where I 
was and, much to my surprise, called to see me. 
She commenced to talk again on religion, saying: 

130 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 131 


“The least you can do is to pray.” 

“I have no objection to saying a prayer if it is not 
against the Jewish Faith,” I replied. 

She suggested that I say: 

“Mary, if you are the Mother of God, please pray 
for me and my family before we die.” 

I faithfully recited this prayer. 

Upon my return home, this friend called again to 
see me. In the meantime she had spoken to Father 
A— about me and she asked me if I would go with 
her to see him. I told her I was willing to go, but 
that I did not intend to become a |Catholic. We went 
to see Father A— and I asked him many questions 
concerning the Catholic religion, after which I re¬ 
quested that he show me his church. He took my 
friend and me into St. Mary’s Church and carefully 
explained all about the Stations of the Cross and the 
statues, especially that of the “Sorrowful Mother,” 
and then we knelt down before the altar to pray, 
but little did I know how to pray! I simply knelt 
down. That night when I was alone at home I began 
to think of all that had happened that afternoon and 
suddenly it seemed as if something had fallen from my 
eyes and I exclaimed: 

“My God, I believe in God the Father, God the 
Son, and God the Holy Ghost.” 

I told Mrs. L— shortly after what had happened 
and she advised me to go again to see Father A—. 
I went a number of times to make inquiries concern¬ 
ing the Catholic religion, with the result that on 
September 11, 1900, I was baptized and on the 12th 
received the Sacrament of Confirmation. When I 
returned home I told my husband I had been to the 


132 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Catholic church, and as I was about to tell him that I 
had become a Catholic I seemed to be dumb—I could 
not speak. He threatened to leave me if I became a 
Catholic and my brother threatened to take my baby 
boy, five years old, away from me. My father went 
to see Mrs. L— and asked her if I had become a 
Catholic. “Why do you not ask your daughter?” she re¬ 
plied. He told her if I had they would chloroform me 
and at night take me to the insane asylum at Over¬ 
brook. 

It was necessary for me to hide all my Catholic 
books and rosary, but all the time I was longing to 
pray and go to church as often as I wanted, and it 
was not long before I could. 

When I became a Catholic, Father A— told me that 
I could expect to share in the cross of our Saviour. 
Seven months later I had another severe spell of sick¬ 
ness, having to undergo several operations. Then I 
lost my hearing and several of my children were 
called to their Heavenly home, but through all these 
trials I have had the greatest peace of soul and am 
happy that I have been able to share in some small 
way in suffering with my Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ. 

My husband has become reconciled to the step I 
took and now attends all the Church services with me. 
although he has not yet become a Catholic. Our 
son, Eugene, was baptized when he was twelve years 
old and is a devout Catholic. 


A FAVOR FROM THE SACRED HEART 
Sophie Farkas, 

Cleveland, O. 

Sophie Farkas and her little brother were left or¬ 
phans and their aunt in Cleveland, Ohio, took them to 
her home to live. Irene B— a pious Catholic girl, 
lived nearby, and she and Sophie became close friends. 
They had many serious conversations together con¬ 
cerning religion. Irene gave Sophie her “Messenger 
of the Sacred Heart” each month to read, and later 
a catechism. The child studied secretly at home and 
in the evening went to Irene’s for her lesson. When 
Sophie’s aunt suspected what she was doing, she 
forbade her visiting Irene, but the children found a 
way. Irene met her little protegee at the corner and 
they went for a walk, during which instructions were 
given. 

One evening Irene took Sophie to see Father N—, 
and after that she went to him for instructions. So¬ 
phie’s aunt soon learned of her desire to become a 
(Catholic and stopped further lessons. The child, 
however, sent word to Father N— that she was study¬ 
ing all she could and wished to be baptized. Very 
soon after she again sent word that she had con¬ 
sumption, that she knew she was going to die, and 
that she wanted to be baptized. 

Of course, the priest could not go to Sophie’s home 

133 


134 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


but the Sacred Heart found a way to grant the child’s 
earnest pleading for Baptism. The City health au¬ 
thorities had her removed to the ,County Consump¬ 
tives Hospital at W—. Here she asked to see the Cath¬ 
olic Chaplain and he soon after administered the Sacra¬ 
ment of Baptism, which Sophie had so ardently de¬ 
sired for such a long time. Then followed the usual 
angry outbursts from relatives, who even brought 
the rabbi to see Sophie, but she was firmly convinced 
that the step she had taken was the right one and 
nothing that was said or done could make her change 
her mind or faith. 

Sophie’s one longing now was to receive her Lord 
and Saviour in Holy Communion. She was visited 
constantly by her friend Irene, and everything was 
arranged for her to receive her First Holy Commun¬ 
ion on Christmas morning. She was so ill, however, 
when that day arrived that she could not receive 
our Blessed Lord, but He came to her one week later, 
on New Year’s Day. A short time after that she 
again received Him in Holy Viaticum. 

On the hillside in the Jewish cemetery the grass 
is green on a small grave, the grave of Sophie. But 
can we help thinking that the soul of this angel- 
child in Paradise is praying for her friend Irene and 
for the conversion of all the Children of Israel? 


“ THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE ” 

Mrs. Peter McKenney (nee Sylvia Cohen), 

New York City. 

Our home when we were children was at Susque¬ 
hanna, Pennsylvania. One of my sisters and I at¬ 
tended the Laurel Hill Academy at that place con¬ 
ducted by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, where 
nothing was ever said to us relative to religion. When 
sixteen years of age I wanted a ring and there seemed 
to be no way in which I could get it. I heard some 
of my classmates say the following prayer: 

“Sweet Heart of Jesus, I adore Thee, 

Sweet Heart of Mary, I implore thee, 

Sweet Heart of Joseph, pure and just, 

In your three hearts I place my trust/’ 

I decided to say the prayer and, much to my surprise, 
I was given the ring I desired from a most unexpected 
source. This naturally increased my faith in prayer. 

My mother died before I finished school. After 
leaving the Academy I thought nothing more about 
religion and a few years later came to New York 
to look for a position in a florist’s store. Up to this 
time I had never associated with any Christian people. 
My father remarried and my sister and I went to 
board with a very nice Jewish lady. I did not like 
the position I had accepted, so decided to give it up, 
although I had nothing else in view and no money 
135 


136 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


to carry me over. After looking for a position for 
three weeks and not being able to find just what I 
wanted, I decided to accept a temporary one. It then 
occurred to me to say the little prayer I had learned 
while at school. In less than a week’s time my prayer 
was answered. My new employer, Mr. Peter McKen- 
ney, a florist, was a Catholic, very kind, but strict. In 
return for his kindness I offered to go down on Sun¬ 
day afternoons to relieve him in order that he might 
attend to any personal business. We grew to be very 
fond of each other and four months later we decided 
to get married. I realized that he being a jCatholic 
we should be married by a priest. We obtained a 
license and went to be married, but on our arrival 
at the rectory we discovered that it would be neces¬ 
sary to secure a dispensation first as I was not a 
Catholic. It had never entered my mind to become 
a Catholic. My friends said: “Now you will become 
a Catholic,” but I told them, “No man will ever tell 
me what I should be; if any one changes his faith it 
will have to be my husband.” 

After our first child was born the question arose 
in my mind “Am I satisfied to have him raised a 
Catholic?” I had not practised the Jewish religion 
for several years, and the example of my husband in 
saying his night and morning prayers and going to 
Mass every Sunday made me feel that I was out 
of that part of his life and that something was missing 
in my own. He never once made any remark to me 
about religion. His sister introduced me to one of 
the Paulist Fathers, as he had been a friend of the 
family and he wanted to see her brother’s child. 
When he learned that I was not a Catholic and that 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 137 


I was favorably disposed towards the religion he 
asked if I would like to read some Catholic books. 
I said I would be pleased, so he gave me “The Ques¬ 
tion Box” by Father Conway, and the “Lily of Israel,” 
the life of the Blessed Virgin. I took them home and 
read them, after which I decided that a woman has 
the same chance as a man in the Catholic religion of 
serving God, which is not the case in the Jewish 
religion. The place of a woman in the Jewish religion 
is in the home, to keep a “kosher” house, which in 
my opinion was only cleanliness. After reading the 
books in question, I asked the Father what I had to 
do to become a Catholic. He questioned me to find 
if I wished to take the step of my own free will, or 
if any one had asked me to. I told him that it was 
of my own free will and that it was my belief in the 
Divinity of Christ and the good example of my hus¬ 
band that made me desire to become a (Catholic. 
After ascertaining how much I knew about the 
Catholic religion, and being assured that I was sin¬ 
cere, he promised to baptize me in a short time. 

A week later, in September, 1912, I received the 
Sacrament of Baptism and this was indeed for me one 
of the happiest moments of my life, for I had now 
found “The Pearl of Great Price.” I have been ex¬ 
tremely happy ever since, and it is my prayer that 
every one who reads this may heed the call of the 
Saviour, “Come, follow Me.” 


THROUGH THE STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY * 
Father Marie Theodore Ratisbonne. 

Theodore Ratisbonne was born in Strasburg in 
1802, the second son of August Ratisbonne and his 
wife, Adelaide Cerfbeer. God blessed their home with 
ten children, six sons and four daughters. They were 
raised in luxury and were educated in the most fash¬ 
ionable schools of their time. This is what Theodore 
tells us in his “Souvenirs,” when in extreme old age 
he reviews his early years: 

“I was brought up, if not religiously, at any rate 
in accordance with Jewish traditions and customs. 
The only moral principles I imbibed were from the 
example of a virtuous mother, and the only dogma I 
learned was faith in one God, who was to be the ex¬ 
clusive object of our adoration and fear until the com¬ 
ing of the expected Messias, who would bring back 
our nation in triumph to Judea. With childlike sim¬ 
plicity I did truly believe at first in the Messias and 
long for His coming, but later, as I could neither un¬ 
derstand why He was to come, nor why He did not 
appear, and was moreover quite happy in my native 
country, I attached no further importance to this 
doctrine. ,, 

On leaving college in Strasburg Theodore, then 

* This sketch is largely derived from “A Nineteenth 
Century Miracle,” Burns, Oates & Washbourne, Ltd., London. 

138 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 139 


between thirteen and fourteen, was sent with one of 
his brothers to a school in Frankfort, where the sons 
of the wealthiest Jews were educated. 

“I was miserable,” he writes, “and desperately 
homesick in the midst of this undisciplined crowd. 
We received no sort of religious instruction beyond 
being taught to read Hebrew, and God was never 
mentioned. But some inward feeling seemed to urge 
me to meditation and I was often deeply moved to 
prayer.” 

Theodore had spent two years in Frankfort when 
his mother recalled him to Strasburg and engaged 
professors to give him a finishing course of study. 
He was indifferent to the artificial pleasures of wealthy 
and worldly society and preferred the beauties of 
nature. His Jewish convictions had grown no strong¬ 
er. He had cast aside all outward practices of re¬ 
ligion, and in addition to this he was thoroughly tired 
of a course of study which had only served to show 
him effects without their causes, and events with no 
motive power behind them and no ostensible object 
to achieve. At this stage his father decided to send 
him to Fould’s Bank in Paris in order that he might 
learn the banking business. 

Theodore’s mother died when he was sixteen years 
old. “At that age,” he wrote long after, “a son first 
begins to realize all that his mother means to him; 
as a child he loves her by mere natural instinct, 
but as a boy growing to manhood he loves her with 
full understanding, deep respect and boundless con¬ 
fidence.” His grief was so intense that he barely sur¬ 
vived the shock. He had lost what was dearest to 
him on earth, and for the first time was face to face 


140 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


with the problem of death and the uncertainty of a 
hereafter. Days and weeks passed in bitterness and 
desolation. 

“I was inconsolable/’ he writes, “at having no one 
left whom I could call mother. What would not 
words of religious consolation have meant to me 
then! But I knew of no man or book to teach me 
the science of Divine things. I should have turned 
with repugnance from anyone attempting to speak 
to me of Christianity, which my training represented 
to my mind as idolatry. I had lost all faith in Juda¬ 
ism, and the Synagogue seemed to me a barrier be¬ 
tween God and my soul.” 

Still seeking peace the idea came to him, he tells 
us, “of engaging a professor to teach me religion. 
A young ‘liberal’ rabbi came three or four times a 
week to explain more or less clearly the significance 
of the Hebrew ceremonies;.... these lessons left 
no impression on me beyond the fact that as a matter 
of conscience I read long Hebrew prayers every day 
for the repose of my mother’s soul.” Three or four 
years passed in this way until, at last Monsieur Fould 
anxious at the young man’s continual depression de¬ 
cided it was his duty to advise the elder Ratisbonne 
to send for his son, and Theodore returned to Stras- 
burg, not much wiser in banking concerns than before 
he left. 

Perpetually obsessed by the contrast between the 
illusions of pleasure and the reality of death, Theo¬ 
dore reached the conclusion that he ought to lead 
a strict and stoical life along the lines laid down by 
pagan philosophers. In his ceaseless wonderings over 
the why and wherefore of human life he began to feel 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 141 


there was some hidden mystery behind them. Hav¬ 
ing heard of Freemasonry he asked in perfect good 
faith to be affiliated, but no voice from the Lodges 
answered his perplexities. 

He next resolved to concentrate his attention on 
philosophy and science, which he now regarded as the 
one thing necessary. He started eagerly to read 
Rousseau, Locke, Voltaire, Volney and Bolingbroke, 
and this course of study killed and uprooted the last 
traces of his traditional beliefs. 

“I was sick of myself and my empty theories,” he 
said later. “By dint of reasoning about good and 
evil and the riddle of the universe, I had become, if 
not an absolute atheist, a skeptic of the deepest dye 
.... I had fallen into an abyss !.... Once when 
I was spending the night in the garden and had been 
gazing up at the stars for a long time, I felt surprised 
that I had ever imagined such splendors to be spon¬ 
taneously self-produced, and as I watched the innum¬ 
erable armies passing over my head, I realized that 
some mighty Intelligence must have presided over 
their creation and regulated their rhythmic march 
across the heavens. These thoughts went through 
my mind without bringing conviction and in this 
moment of anguish I called upon the God of my child¬ 
hood in all the bitterness of my soul: 

‘Oh, Thou Mysterious Being, Creator, Lord, Adonai! 
If Thou dost exist take pity on Thy creature! Show 
me the way which leads to truth and I swear to follow 
it to my life’s end!’ ” 

Theodore left Strasburg toward the end of 1822 
for Paris. He had just enrolled as a law student, 
when a young man, whom he had never seen, sug- 



142 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


gested his taking a course of philosophy which Mon¬ 
sieur Bautain had consented to give. 

“Monsieur Bautain was very celebrated at the 
time/' wrote Father Ratisbonne in his ‘Memoirs/ 
“but I only knew him by sight and reputation.... 
As for the person who made the suggestion to me I 
did not know he was a Jew, and had no idea that one 
day he would be my most intimate friend, my brother 
in Jesus Christ, and a fellow-priest. . . . This was 
Monsieur Jules Lewel, then a law student and later 
on Protonotary-Apostolic and Superior of St. Louis 
des Frangais in Rome. I accepted the proposal at 
once, for I always looked upon philosophy as the only 
path to knowledge and truth.... Monsieur Bau- 
tain’s teaching was quite unique; it was like a flood 
of light and a torrent of living water gushing out 
from the depths of his profound convictions. We 
listened with emotion and followed in admiration the 
developments of a doctrine which initiated us into the 
mysteries of nature and mankind.... His words 
not only shed light into my mind but brought joy and 
peace into my heart; the scales dropped from my eyes 
and I beheld the soft radiance of truth. It was 
Christianity in its sublime ideals without theological 
formulae. 

“Unwittingly I was feeding on Christian teaching 
and I little guessed that religion was hidden beneath 
the luminous mantle of philosophy on which I gazed 
with such delight. Although I did not realize it, the 
dawn of that Divine radiance was surrounding and 
penetrating me on every side. I think I should never 
have had the courage to look Christianity, as such, 
in the face....” 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 143 


The course of lectures which began in 1823 at¬ 
tracted many more students the following year, 
among whom Theodore introduced one of his co¬ 
religionists, Isidore Goschler, who soon “shared all 
my feelings.” 

“What struck us both in the beginning of your 
lectures,” he said later to Monsieur Bautain, “was 
that you based all your teachings on books which the 
Jews consider holy.... Wonder of wonders! It 
was you who reconciled us with the God of Abraham 
and of Jacob....It was you who used to say to 
us: ‘First become devout Jews, and truth will do 
the rest’....” 

Theodore had begun keeping the Sabbath very 
strictly, and in spite of his family's sarcasms was to 
be seen at the synagogue. But notwithstanding all 
the efforts he made to return to the practices of his 
forefathers they caused him unconquerable distaste. 

“Oh! how shall I describe the hard battles I fought 
with prejudices inborn in me,” he exclaimed long 
after, “with my memories and my attachment to that 
vague and nebulous thing I called the religion of my 
fathers!.... I was not learned enough to realize 
the identity of Judaism and (Christianity... .1 did 
not believe that the God of Abraham was the God of 
the Christians and I dreaded to go deeper into the 
question. T say again,' our professor would repeat, 
‘the Christian religion is not a new one.... there is 
not, there cannot be, more than one true and Divine 
religion any more than there can be more than one 
God. Christianity is the development and the per¬ 
fecting of Judaism, in the same way that an edifice is 
the continuation and the complement of its base.' ” 



144 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Theodore was nearly twenty-three years of age; 
he was preparing his final thesis for admission to the 
Bar and his family began to think seriously of settling 
him in life. None of his relatives or friends had any 
suspicion of his leanings towards Christianity. He 
was called to the Bar on January 26, 1826, and on 
April 4th was sworn in at the Royal Courts of Justice 
at Colmar, but he felt it his duty not to practise as a 
lawyer, as the legal profession had only attracted him 
out of ambition. He therefore began to study medi¬ 
cine with his friends on the advice of Monsieur Bau- 
tain. 

So for two years Theodore returned to the life of 
a student, during which time the truths of Christian¬ 
ity penetrated more and more into his soul, while he 
chafed at the impossibility of openly avowing his con¬ 
victions. 

“Oh, how I used to thrill with joy,” he exclaims, 
“when I slipped furtively into church on some holy- 
day! I shall never forget my feelings at my first 
High Mass!.... When I came out of the church 
it was like coming down from Heaven to earth. 

“I went on,” he continues, “from glory to glory, 
my imagination revelling in the spirit and poetry of 
Christianity, my mind relieved and satisfied by the 
writings of Bossuet and my whole heart feeding 
with delight on the word of the Gospel. I was all 
impatience to read these Divine pages, but I had re¬ 
solved not to begin until I had thoroughly gone 
through all the books of the Old Testament. How 
well I remember it all! It was nine o’clock in the 
evening when I finished the last line of the Old Testa¬ 
ment and at once opened the New. I was so ab- 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 145 


sorbed in what I was reading that I could not leave it 
even for part of the night; in one draught I emptied 
the cup of living water of St. Matthew’s Gospel. It 
was the same with that of St. John, and twice I be¬ 
gan it without being able to stop until I had read it 
from end to end.” 

The date for his Baptism was set for Holy Saturday 
in April, 1827. He took “Marie” for his Baptismal 
name, and henceforth he was called “Marie Theo¬ 
dore.” In his “Souvenirs” he states: 

“I remember that as I left our house to which I 
should return a Christian I met my eldest brother 
who shook hands and asked me where I was going. 
‘Close by,’ I answered. And, indeed, I had but one 
step to take to pass from Judaism to Christianity, from 
the Synagogue to the Church, from Moses to Christ, 
from death to life.... I realized to the full the real 
effect of my Baptism, it was ineffable; I was like a 
man born blind who sees the light for the first time 
....New life was running in my veins....I felt 
an indescribable sense of joy, freedom, dignity, grati¬ 
tude; all nature seemed to smile on me and a new 
light illumined the whole world. I saw every thing 
from a fresh standpoint, and my delight at becoming 
one of the great Christian family was so intense that 
I could hardly keep from stopping the passers-by to 
tell them of my happiness.” 

“I could now think of no greater honor than be¬ 
coming a Catholic priest,” he tells us. “In all my 
prayers I implored this grace.” 

His family was getting anxious about what they 
called his original way of living and suspected him of 
a leaning towards Christianity. One day his youngest 


146 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


brother, Alphonse, who was going to see Monsieur 
Bautain, saw Theodore make the sign of the cross on 
his breast and rushed home, almost beside himself, to 
tell the family what he had seen. Monsieur Ratis- 
bonne summoned Theodore to a confidential inter¬ 
view. 

“I went,” says the latter, “with the respect and def¬ 
erence of a son but also with the courage of a Christ¬ 
ian. My father asked in plain words if I were a 
Christian. 

‘Yes/ I answered, ‘I am, and it is my faith in (Christi¬ 
anity which has made me give up all the luxuries of life 
in order to devote myself to the regeneration of my 
fellow-men.’ 

“My father remained speechless with consternation. 

‘I am a Christian/ I continued, ‘but I worship the 
same God as my forefathers, the Thrice-Holy God of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I acknowledge Jesus 
Christ as the Messias and Redeemer of Israel.’ ” 

All the efforts of Theodore’s relations to keep him 
from becoming a priest failed before his firm resolve 
to follow the Divine call. He was ordained on De¬ 
cember 18, 1830, but it was not until January 6th, the 
Feast of the Epiphany, that he said his first Mass. 
He labored in his native diocese for ten years, and 
then became sub-director of the Confraternity of 
Notre Dame des Victoires in Paris. 

The Abbe Ratisbonne was now nearing his fortieth 
year, and, humanly speaking, saw no chance of help¬ 
ing in any direct way towards the salvation of the 
Jews which he so yearned to do. The Abbe Goschler 
consumed with the same longing, said one day to 
Father Theodore: 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 147 


“I have been praying to the Blessed Virgin for so 
many years for my family without obtaining anything 
that I give up in despair.” 

“I have been praying for twenty years,” answered 
Father Ratisbonne, “and have received no answer, and 
that is why I still hope.” 

This act of faith was destined soon to be rewarded 
by the miraculous conversion of his brother Alphonse. 

Father Ratisbonne went to Rome to interview Pope 
Gregory XVI, who granted him permission to labor 
for the conversion of the Jews. He opened a number 
of houses under the patronage of “Our Lady of Sion” 
for the Christian education of Jewish boys and girls, 
and founded the Order of Notre Dame de Sion. These 
religious have convents in Palestine, Turkey, England, 
Roumania, Egypt, Tunis, Austria, Costa Rica, Bel¬ 
gium, Italy, Canada, and in Kansas City and Marshall, 
Missouri, in the United States. 

Father Ratisbonne died on January 10, 1884, in his 
eighty-second year, having served for more than fifty 
years as a priest, laboring to bring the light of faith 
“to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” 


APPARITION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN 
Father Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne. 

Alphonse, the youngest of Monsieur Auguste Ratis- 
bonne’s sons, was born at Strasburg on May 1, 1814. 
As his mother died when he was four years of age, his 
brothers and sisters did their best to make up for the 
loss. 

He received practically no religious training; all he 
was taught was Hebrew, which he read without un¬ 
derstanding it. He was educated first at the Royal 
College of Strasburg and afterwards in a Protestant 
school, where the sons of prominent Alsatian families 
were sent more in order to be fitted for worldly society 
and pleasures than to study. 

At sixteen Alphonse lost his father, but his uncle 
who had no children concentrated all his affection on 
his nephews. After studying law in Paris and being 
called to the Bar, Alphonse was sent for by his uncle 
in Strasburg, who loaded him with presents, gave him 
unlimited credit on the bank and did all in his power 
to retain him permanently in the town. 

Alphonse believed that we are put in this world 
solely to enjoy ourselves, and spent much of his time 
in Paris. Business was a nuisance to him, but a con¬ 
temporary of his assures us “that his heart had re¬ 
mained pure, therefore he was bound to find his way 
to God sooner or later/’ He preferred reading history 
148 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 149 


to novels. He busied himself with bettering the con¬ 
ditions of his co-religionists and became one of the 
most zealous members of the Jewish Societe d’En¬ 
couragement au travail, being as yet quite uncon¬ 
scious that anything beyond money and charity lot¬ 
teries was necessary for the regeneration of a people. 
He prided himself on having no religion whatever. 

“I was a Jew in name only,” he says, “for I did not 
even believe in God. I never opened a book of devo¬ 
tion, and no attempt to keep up any Jewish precept 
was made, either in my uncle’s home or in that of my 
brothers and sisters.” * 

He was just twenty-seven when he became engaged 
to his niece, Flore Ratisbonne. 

“My happiness seemed complete for all time,” he 
writes. “My family were perfectly delighted, and I 
must say that few relations are as fond of each other 
as we were.... Only one of them was really hate¬ 
ful to me, and that was Theodore.. .. His religious 
habit repelled me, his ideas offended me, and his grave 
quiet way of speaking exasperated me.” 

As Flore was only sixteen years old it was thought 
advisable to postpone their marriage for a while, and 
in the meantime Alphonse was to take a pleasure trip. 

On November 17, 1841, he left Strasburg, intending 
to visit Naples, spend the winter in Malta and come 
home by the East. Early in the month of Jan¬ 

uary, 1842, he found himself in Rome, although this 
was not a part of his original plan, as he did not wish 
to visit the center of Catholicity. He was preparing 
to leave Rome and much against his will, had to 


* Letter of April 1, 1842, to Monsieur Dufriche-Desgenettes. 




150 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


visit Baron Theodore de Bussierre, an ardent convert 
to Catholicism. The Baron prevailed upon Alphonse 
to accept a medal of the Blessed Virgin and to copy 
the “Memorare.”* On January 20th they visited the 
Church of St. Andrea delle Fratte. M. de Bussiere 
asked Alphonse to wait for him in the church while 
he went to give a message in the sacristy. 

“I had been but a few moments alone,” writes Al¬ 
phonse, “when I was seized with a strange uneasiness. 
I raised my eyes. The building had disappeared from 
before me, one single chapel had, so to speak, gathered 
and concentrated all the light, and in the midst of this 
radiance I saw, standing on the altar, lofty, clothed 
with splendor, full of majesty and sweetness, the 
Virgin Mary just as she is represented on my medal. 
An irresistible force drew me towards her. She made 
me a sign with her hand to kneel down; she spoke not 
a word, but I understood all.” 

Alphonse was baptized on January' 31st in the 
Church of the Gesu, by Cardinal Patrizi, Vicar of His 
Holiness Pope Gregory XVI. He entered the Society 
of Jesus and was ordained a priest in 1847. As he was 
desirous of devoting himself entirely to the conversion 
of the Jews, he left the Society with the consent of 
Pope Pius IX. With childlike faith he assisted his 
brother Theodore in founding the Sisterhood of Our 
Lady of Sion. With several companions, known as 


* Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was 
it known, that any one who fled to thy protection, implored 
thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. In¬ 
spired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, 
my Mother. To thee I come; before thee I stand, sinful and 
sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not 
my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen. 



WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 151 


Les Peres de Sion, Alphonse labored for the conver¬ 
sion of the Jews until his death on May 6, 1884. 


A CONVERT IN CHICAGO 
Simon S. Rothschild. 

Simon S. Rothschild was born December 11, 1865, 
son of Emmanuel Rothschild and Eurelia Stern. Like 
many Jews he was unorthodox, but of a religious 
turn of mind. Frequently he would attend Catholic 
services and derived great spiritual help and consola¬ 
tion from them. For a great many years he had a 
strong attachment to the Catholic religion. He later 
married a Catholic. He was very earnest in his study 
of the doctrines of the Church and could always give 
a reason for the faith that was in him. 

Mr. Rothschild was baptized at Our Lady of Sor¬ 
rows’ Church, Chicago, Ill., on August 10, 1917. After 
his Baptism he never missed Mass on Sunday and 
went regularly to Confession and Holy Communion. 
He always carried his rosary and understood well the 
meaning of its mysteries. During the last year of his 
life his health was poor. When the doctor told him 
that an operation was necessary, about ten months 
before his death, the only remark he made was that 
first he would have to receive Holy .Communion. A 
priest visited him frequently while at the hospital and 
his faith was manifested in his earnest request for 
prayers and particularly to be blessed with the relic 
of St. Philip Benizi. 

Mr. Rothschild recovered sufficiently to be able to 
152 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 153 


resume his duties in the prosperous clothing business 
he conducted in the downtown section of Chicago, but 
a few weeks before his death he had to relinquish 
business cares and he then devoted himself almost 
entirely to the affairs of his soul. He died with the 
most devout Christian sentiments and was buried 
from Our Lady of Sorrows’ Church, October 3, 1921. 
His remains rest in Mt. Carmel Cemetery, west of 
Chicago. 


“AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM” 
Mrs. George Schlesinger, 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

My religious education was obtained in Temple 
Israel, Harlem, New York City. Later I taught Sun¬ 
day school, but I always seemed to crave for some¬ 
thing more than I found in the Jewish religion. 

Many of my friends were Christians—Catholics and 
Protestants. As a child, the name of Christ appealed 
to me. I attended different functions and celebrations 
in the various churches and was familiar with them 
all. After my marriage I did not observe my religious 
duties, yet I felt that there was something I craved. 

We had two children, a girl and boy. When Jane 
was about eleven years of age and George three, I be¬ 
gan to consider bringing them up in some religion. 
I had a friend, a Methodist, who used her influence 
to have me join her church, and I thought seriously 
of doing so. My mother, a very devout Jewess, was 
living with us at the time. She frequently took Jane 
to the services in the synagogue on Saturday morn¬ 
ings. Jane likewise attended the Catholic church oc¬ 
casionally with a friend of mine. Dissatisfied with the 
Jewish Faith, yet not convinced that the Methodist 
form of worship was the true one, I consulted with 
my husband and told him what a quandary I was in. 
I then decided to inquire into and study different 
154 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 155 


points regarding the various creeds and ceremonials. 

It was the strong desire of Jane that finally guided 
me. She had always insisted that she wanted to be 
a Catholic and she had carried a crucifix for a long 
while and treasured it. Just at this particular time a 
mission was given by the Redemptorist Fathers in St. 
Finbar’s Church. My husband and I attended it. 
After hearing several of the sermons I decided that I 
wanted to become a member of the Catholic Church. 
Being fully imbued with the spirit of our dear Lord 
I went to Rev. Wm. Gardner for instructions, and at 
the close of the mission in June, 1914, I received the 
Sacrament of Baptism. Jane and George were bap¬ 
tized ten days later. 

My conversion was soon followed by many heavy 
crosses, which were naturally the cause of much com¬ 
ment by my former co-religionists, but my faith never 
faltered for a moment. Jane was suddenly crippled, 
having to undergo four operations, and she remained 
a cripple for four years. While I am thankful for the 
help given by the surgeons, I feel confident that it 
was through prayer that she was finally cured. My 
second boy, John, had an attack of membranous croup 
and the doctor despaired of him and called for an am¬ 
bulance to take him to the hospital to have a tube 
inserted in his throat. We had all been praying fer¬ 
vently for his recovery and before the arrival of the 
ambulance the condition had subsided without the use 
of the tube or antitoxin. The change was so marked 
and sudden, it was a surprise and shock to us all and 
the ambulance doctor could hardly believe the sever¬ 
ity of the case, though as a matter of fact the child 
was strangling when the ambulance was called. 


156 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


These answers to prayer made my faith all the 
firmer and schooled me in my devotions. The trials, 
instead of weakening my faith, strengthened it. I 
was criticized by many for becoming a iCatholic but 
all of my Jewish friends remained faithful to me. 


A BENEDICTINE PRIEST 
Rev. Hilary Rosenfeld, O. S. B. 


Rev. Hilary Rosenfeld, O. S. B., was born January 
19, 1866, in Warasdin, Croatia, Austria, as the son of 
Marcus Rosenfeld and his wife, Joanna Plan. His 
father was a rabbi, chanter and school-teacher for 
fifty-two years. He had seven children, two boys and 
five girls. His son Benjamin, the older of the two 
boys, who later on at his Baptism received the name 
Aloysius and at his entrance into the Benedictine 
Order the name Hilary, was destined to follow his 
father’s footsteps and also to become a rabbi under the 
Old Dispensation, and later on a priest under 
the New. Even at the tender age of nine years he 
received instruction in the Hebrew chant and with 
seven other choir boys assisted the rabbi in the sing¬ 
ing of hymns. 

Benjamin was graduated from the grade schools 
and entered college. Being the only Jew in his class 
he had much to suffer from his schoolmates, and after 
he had been there two years it happened on one oc¬ 
casion that he gave the “correct answer” to a school¬ 
mate who had referred to his faith in an insulting 
way. He was called before the Board of Professors 
and severely reprimanded. Benjamin immediately 
gave up his studies and devoted himself to the life of 
a merchant. His father took him to Prague in Bo- 
157 


158 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


hernia as an apprentice to a merchant selling gro¬ 
ceries, where after two and one-half years he completed 
his apprenticeship and received his diploma as clerk. 
About that time he became seriously ill with typhoid 
fever and was taken to the Jewish hospital, where men 
of all creeds were admitted. By mistake a priest who 
was to prepare a man for death—a man who occupied 
the bed adjoining Benjamin’s—placed the Blessed 
Sacrament on a little table in front of Benjamin’s bed 
and prepared to hear his Confession. He never forgot 
this impressive scene. 

When able to leave the hospital Benjamin returned 
to his master’s house and found him very sick. As 
he himself was still convalescing and weak after his 
serious illness, he went back to his own home. Short¬ 
ly after his arrival he suffered a relapse and was ill 
eight more weeks with typhoid fever. A few days 
after his return home he received the death notice of 
his former employer, and so upon recovery he ac¬ 
cepted a new position as clerk. On account of another 
serious illness two years later he was again obliged 
to return home, and his lack of success as a business 
man made him finally resolve to take up his former 
studies and to prepare for an examination to become 
a rabbi. 

At nineteen years of age he received his first posi¬ 
tion in the Jewish synagogue at Cham, near Ratisbon, 
in Bavaria. Mrs G., the owner of the house in which 
Rosenfeld lived, served as his housekeeper. She was 
not only a fervent Catholic and a widow, but the 
mother of a son who was preparing for the priesthood 
in the Capuchin monastery at Altoetting in Bavaria. 
During his frequent visits to his mother, especially 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 159 


on Sundays after she had returned from church, he 
usually asked on what topic the priest had preached, 
and she gave him a short outline of the sermon. 

Rosenfeld was very much edified with the practical 
and pious Catholic life all around him. He saw how 
the men and boys at the ringing of the Angelus would 
bare their heads and pray on the street. In the even¬ 
ing he heard prayers and litanies piously recited in 
the Catholic family circles. He saw the people ac¬ 
company the priests on their sick calls with the 
Blessed Sacrament; during the Corpus Christi proces¬ 
sion all the town officials, with the common people, 
assist with great piety, and the people in great 
crowds, praying aloud, follow the funeral trains. 
He, himself, delighted in wearing clothes resembling 
those of a priest. Young and old greeted him with 
the good old Catholic greeting: “Praised be Jesus 
Christ!” to which he always replied, “Now and for¬ 
ever. Amen/’ 

During the third year of his activity as rabbi, 
Rosenfeld decided to inquire into the Catholic religion. 

When, in the course of time, Mrs, G- had made 

preparations for the arrival of her son who had been 
ordained a priest of the Capuchin Order, Benjamin 
offered his help. When Father O— arrived, Benjamin 
joined the rest of the people and priests and went to 
the depot to meet him, and upon returning to the 
house knelt down to receive Father O’s first blessing. 
He also accepted the invitation to attend the young 
priest's first Holy Mass, and in the festive procession 
from the rectory to the church, Rosenfeld marched 
immediately behind the celebrant. When he entered 
the church he went up to the gallery, so as to be able 



160 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


to get a good view of the entire ceremony. The text 
of the sermon preached on that memorable occasion 
was: “And every one that hath left house, or father, 
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My 
Name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall 
possess life everlasting.” (Matt. 19:20.) This Rosen- 
feld considered a great bargain—to give little and re¬ 
ceive much. 

That afternoon he was invited to a luncheon to be 
given in honor of the young priest. At first he re¬ 
fused, but later decided to attend. During the lunch¬ 
eon religion became the topic of conversation. Ro- 
senfeld was asked by one of the Fathers whether the 
Jews were still waiting for the Messias. This ques¬ 
tion was followed by others, until the discussion be¬ 
came rather heated. Rosenfeld accused Catholics of 
idolatry on account of the veneration of images and 
the cross, but finally, being enlightened on the subject, 
he admitted his mistake. He was conquered, but not 
convinced. All departed good-naturedly and Rosen¬ 
feld wished he had not accepted the invitation. That 
evening one of the priests who had taken part in the 
discussion during the luncheon came to offer an apol¬ 
ogy. Again a two hours’ discussion ensued, which 
ended in Rosenfeld’s consent to read “Edgar” or 
“From Atheism to the Full Truth” by Oscar Ham- 
merstein, and to return it in person when he had fin¬ 
ished it. Another book was then offered on the same 
condition. The priest considered Rosenfeld’s calls 
as friendly visits and returned the same by visiting 
him in his private apartment. After a short time the 
Catechism was offered for perusal. There was much 
in it that Rosenfeld could not understand, hence, he 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 161 


went frequently to the rectory for explanation, which 
sometimes took many hours. Without noticing it he 
was taking regular catechetical instruction, and he 
even accepted as a present a blessed rosary. He was 
instructed how to recite the rosary and, though yet 
a Jew, he said it for several months on his knees. 

A great longing for a purer and better kind of life 
developed in his heart. He often reflected upon his 
former sinful life and had an inexplicable longing for 
a life of virtue and sanctity. Frequently he would 
kneel down and pray from the bottom of his heart that 
God would give him light. Finally after long con¬ 
sideration, study and instruction, he at last said to 
Father N—: 

“I believe I am going to become a Catholic.” 

“Yes,” said Father N-. “That is a step you must 

consider well, for it is a great one.” 

“I have already thought it over seriously,” replied 
Benjamin. 

“Well, what do you intend to do after you are a 
Catholic? You cannot keep your position as rabbi 
any longer,” said Father N—. 

“I would prefer to retire from the world altogether, 
in order to avoid its dangers and temptations. Even 
if I have to work on the rock pile, or to beg, I will 
become a Catholic,” replied Benjamin. 

“Perhaps we could secure a position for you at the 
court-house,” suggested Father N—. 

“No, no,” replied Benjamin. “I prefer, by far, to 
avoid the bustle of the world and go into seclusion; 
maybe I could become a Brother in religion.” 

“If you would like to go to America, I will see what 
can be done,” said Father N—. 


162 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


As Benjamin was willing to do this, Father N— 
wrote a letter to the Rt. Rev. Benedictine Abbot of 
Metten, in Bavaria, who replied that the Abbot of the 
Benedictine Monastery in Atchison, Kansas, in the 
United States, had requested him some time pre¬ 
viously to send him some young men as candidates for 
the priesthood. Father N— immediately wrote a 
letter to America in regard to Benjamin and in about 
a month received a reply stating “Rosenfeld is ac¬ 
cepted. Let him come as soon as possible.” 

Benjamin prayed much and fervently during that 
time that he might be received into the monastery, 
become a good, holy Benedictine, and, as such, be one 
day worthy of receiving the reward of life eternal. 
Daily, mornings and evenings, he implored the help of 
the Blessed Virgin. He was afraid that his frequent 
visits to Father N— might arouse suspicion and that 
his congregation might find out about his plans and 
endeavor to put obstacles in his way, since only a few 
months before he had made a new Contract to remain 
longer. One day while dining with a Jewish family 
he was very much frightened, because as he pulled 
out his handkerchief the rosary, which he always car¬ 
ried with him, fell on the floor. Quick as lightning 
he picked it up unnoticed. It also became very em¬ 
barrassing for him to teach the Jewish catechism to 
the children under his care. 

The day for Rosenfeld’s Baptism was set for Au¬ 
gust 18, 1887. On the eve thereof he began to fear at 
having decided to take such a step without having 
asked parents or friends for advice. Giving up his 
good position in ( Cham, leaving his parents, brother 
and sisters, perhaps forever, the great trip across the 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 163 


ocean to enter the monastery, the uncertainty whether 
he had made the right choice—all these thoughts be¬ 
gan to oppress and worry him and he prayed: “God, 
show me in some sensible manner that this step which 
I am about to take is pleasing to Thee and good for 
my salvation. I wish to save my soul. Nothing shall 
be too difficult for me if it is only Thy will. Oh, 
grant me some sign which will assure me that I am 
in the right path! Show me that the Catholic Faith, 
which I intend to embrace, is really the one, true 
Faith. For thy sake I will gladly leave everything, no 
matter how dear to me.” 

It was a dark night and he was on his way home. 
As he looked up to the sky, it seemed to him as if 
there were a number of radiant angels hovering above 
him in a semicircle. He stopped on his way, and 
looked on—how long he did not know. When the 
vision had disappeared and everything became dark 
around him, Benjamin knew not whether he was 
dreaming in bed or not. At last he came to and 
realized that he was standing in the street. Joy and 
the certainty that his resolution was pleasing to God 
had filled his bosom to such an extent, that upon his 
arrival home his housekeeper, Mrs. G—, to whom he 
narrated the event, thought he had completely lost 
his mind. Filled with exceeding great joy, he told her 
he was so firmly convinced now that the step he pro¬ 
posed to take was the right one that he would be will¬ 
ing, if necessary, to be executed in confirming the 
truth. 

On the 18th of August, at four o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing, he arose so as to prepare for Holy Baptism and 
his First Holy Communion, which he was to receive at 


164 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


six o’clock. Dean Schmidt of Cham performed the 
sacred rite of Baptism. Father N—, who had in¬ 
structed him, was sponsor; the seven Fathers belong¬ 
ing to the deanery were witnesses. About seven 
o’clock Benjamin took the train to the episcopal city, 
Ratisbon, where His Lordship, Bishop Senestrey, con¬ 
firmed him the next day in his private chapel. He 
then visited the Rev. Father Bartholomew, O. M. C., 
in his monastery—the priest who had preached that 
memorable sermon at Father G—’s first Holy Mass. 
Then he visited Father G— in his monastery at 
Altoetting, Bavaria, and stopped at the shrine of the 
Blessed Virgin, to ask for her protection. Later 
he called on the Cardinal of Cologne to receive his 
blessing for the long and important voyage, and 
thence went to Antwerp, where he took passage on a 
steamer of the Red Star Line. The day before sail¬ 
ing, he, in a long letter, informed his parents of his 
Baptism and plans. 

After a stormy passage of twenty-one days across 
the Atlantic, Rosenfeld arrived in Philadelphia, and 
three days later in Atchison, Kansas, his destination. 
He had many difficulties at first, not being familiar 
with the English language. As a man of twenty-two, 
he entered the third Latin class, and for two and one- 
half years pursued the classical course. After that 
he spent one year in the novitiate at St. Vincent, 
Pennsylvania. In July, 1891, he made his simple 
vows; July 11, 1894, his solemn vows; December 13, 
1895, he received sub-deaconship; December 15th, 
deaconship; and December 22, 1895, he was ordained 
to the priesthood by Rt. Rev. Bishop Fink, O. S. B. 
On Christmas Day he celebrated his first Holy Mass 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 165 


at St. Peter’s Church, Council Bluffs, Iowa. On De¬ 
cember 31st he was sent to St. John’s [Church, Bur¬ 
lington, Iowa, where he was assistant for about seven 
years. Since then he has been assigned to different 
missions in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. 


“SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND ” 

Mrs. Theodore Kavanaugh (nee Lillie Marks), 
New York City. 

My parents were French Orthodox Jews who came 
from Paris and settled in Canada. I was the youngest 
of six girls and was born in Canada, where I lived for 
two years, when my . parents moved to New York. 
Until I was fifteen years of age I attended the syna¬ 
gogue, but took little interest in the services. When 
I started in business, some of the girls in my office 
were Catholics. During Lent they would say: 

“Goodbye, Lillie, we must leave you now; we are 
going to church.” 

Finally I asked them if I might go along. 

“Why certainly, we are only going to say some 
prayers,” they replied. 

While they were kneeling and praying, I whispered: 

“Please say a prayer for me, because,I do not know 
how to pray. It must be wonderful to have a religion 
in which one has so much faith.” 

Shortly after this I met a Catholic young man and 
whenever in his company I invariably asked questions 
relative to Catholicism. One day he inquired if I were 
only asking the questions out of curiosity. I replied: 

“No, I am groping; I am in the dark as regards 
religion, because I am not satisfied with my own re¬ 
ligion and am seeking to find the true one.” 

166 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 167 


I then decided to undergo instructions and my 
friend introduced me to one of the Paulist Fathers. 
After studying the Catechism and reading the New 
Testament I believed that Christ is the Messias prom¬ 
ised by the prophets of the Old Law. I then wanted 
to belong to the Church which He established. It was 
on June 2, 1904, that I received the Sacrament of Bap¬ 
tism and on the following day my First Holy Com¬ 
munion. 

For various reasons I did not tell my family of the 
step I had taken and, of course, it was very difficult 
on that account to observe the Friday abstinence and 
to pray in the way I wanted. As I roomed with my 
sister, it was necessary for me to go into the kitchen 
to kneel down to say my prayers. It was also very 
hard to manage to go to Mass on Sundays, but I 
never failed under the trying circumstances to go to 
church or to observe all the practices of my new Faith. 

Previous to becoming a Catholic I had the greatest 
fear of death, but since I have had no fear at all, be¬ 
cause I know that there is a hereafter where all those 
who serve God faithfully in this world will be happy 
with Him in the life to come. 

I am now married to a splendid Catholic man, in 
whom my family have the greatest confidence and 
respect. I am perfectly happy in my new-found Faith, 
from which I derive the greatest consolation and 
peace of soul. 


LIGHT THROUGH DEATH 
Baroness Franchetti 

A Spanish lady, the Marchioness of Villa Hermosa, 
a Jewess by birth, had been baptized before her mar¬ 
riage, but her mother, the Baroness Franchetti, and 
her brother both retained the religious beliefs of their 
family. On May 13, 1923, the Marchioness, who was 
suffering from a severe attack of pneumonia which 
offered no hope of her recovery, turned to her mother 
who was watching by her bedside and said: 

“I am entirely resigned at the thought of my ap¬ 
proaching death, if such be the will of God. My one 
anxiety is that you, being a Jewess, will be unable to 
attend to the Catholic education of my five children.” 

The Baroness, however, promised her daughter that 
the children would be brought up as 'Catholics and 
that all her desires and instructions concerning their 
future life would be faithfully carried out. 

The Marchioness was greatly relieved by this prom¬ 
ise and she died peacefully a short time afterwards. 
The ardent prayers and supplications which she must 
have offered up before the throne of God obtained the 
precious gift of faith for those she had left behind. 
Three days later, both her mother and brother re¬ 
ceived the Sacrament of Baptism in the presence of 
her body, and now all the members of that Jewish 
family are Catholics. 


168 


THE SON OF A RABBI 
Father Francis Mary Paul Libermann. 

Ven. Francis Mary Paul Libermann (Jacob at his 
circumcision) was born in 1804 and died in 1852. He 
is the first Jewish convert of modern times with whose 
canonization the Church is engaged. His father, rabbi 
at Zabern, in Alsace, noticed the religious disposition 
of the boy and destined him one day to assume the 
rabbinical office as his successor, and with that inten¬ 
tion sent him to a school at Metz. From the age of 
nine he was motherless. His health was delicate and 
he was harshly treated by his schoolmaster. The 
eldest son of the family, Samson, a physician, and his 
wife became iCatholics. 

The news of his brother’s conversion came as a 
great shock to Jacob at a time when he was already 
suffering disillusionment in regard to his own people, 
for the kindly traditions of Jewish hospitality carried 
out in his father’s house did not obtain in Metz, and 
the lonely youth of eighteen, exasperated by the big¬ 
otry and intolerance of his teachers, turned his at¬ 
tention to the study of German and French, instead 
of concentrating upon Hebrew as his father had in¬ 
tended. Soon after, full of sorrow and yet with hope 
in his heart, he went to Strasburg, thinking that he 
might convince Samson of the error of his ways. In 
this, of course, he was not successful, but so gentle an 
169 


170 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


opponent was he that his sister-in-law, struck by his 
courtesy and calmness, said to him: 

“One day you will not only be a Christian, but a 
priest and an apostle.” 

He returned to Metz with an internal conflict now 
awakened. The spirit of faith in Judaism had indeed 
gone, but he clung all the more rigorously to the letter 
of the Law. His gentle and affectionate heart was 
torn between love for his elder brother and the old 
feelings of gratitude and affection for his father and 
for his Jewish kindred. And added to all this was a 
ceaseless yearning for truth, for he, like St. Augustine, 
was indeed one of those “made for God,” and his heart 
was restless seeking its goal. 

Jacob, like Samson, came across a Gospel trans¬ 
lated into Hebrew, and found himself again con¬ 
fronted with the question of miracles which already 
troubled him—a difficulty natural enough in the skep¬ 
tical age in which he lived. Jacob then began to 
study Rousseau's “Emile” in which the author after 
arguing for and against the Divinity of Christ “won¬ 
ders what reply a rabbi would make!” Jacob was 
equally perplexed, and it was at this moment that the 
conversion of the Ratisbonne brothers was made , 
known to him. He resolved to go to Paris, and, im¬ 
possible though it may appear, he went there with his 
father’s consent, so convinced was the old rabbi of 
his son’s steadfastness in the religion of his ancestors. 
In Paris he went to M. Drach, a converted Jew, who 
found a lodging for him in the College Stanislas. 

There, alone in the cell assigned to him, in complete 
silence and solitude, an immense home-sickness came 
upon him. Then it was that falling on his knees he 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 171 


called in anguish of soul upon the God of his fathers, 
begging for light. Like a flash the answer came. 
All perplexity was at an end, he believed absolutely 
and at once. “Tolle, lege,” said the inward voice, 
and turning he took up the books provided for him to 
read. He found no difficulties there; even the mys¬ 
tery of the Eucharist was made clear to him. 

The lonely cell was filled with the presence of God, 
and His youthful servant took upon him once and for¬ 
ever the yoke and cross of his loving Master. 

In Paris, on the eve of Christmas, 1826, the young 
man was baptized. At the seminary of St. Sulpice, 
whither he was admitted to prepare for the holy priest¬ 
hood, the humble, mortified, and devout convert won 
the affection of every one. On the very eve of his 
promotion to the subdiaconate, he was stricken with 
an attack of epilepsy. Like so many others, Liber- 
mann was made a saint by suffering. For five years 
he was an epileptic, but was kept by his charitable 
superiors at the seminary of Issy because of his ex¬ 
ample of patience and spirit of resignation and because 
of his good influence among the candidates for the 
priesthood. During that time, with several compan¬ 
ions, he planned the foundation of a new missionary 
society for the conversion of the negro. After being 
novice-master for the Eudists at Rennes for two years, 
he went to Rome to lay his plans before the Holy See. 
His year there was marked by grinding poverty, but he 
never wavered in his reliance upon God. He was to 
win no victory save by suffering. Finally the Propa¬ 
ganda praised and encouraged his work as highly op¬ 
portune. 

His health having improved, he was ordained at 


172 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Amiens in 1841. Nine days later he opened near there 
the first novitiate of the Society of the Immaculate 
Heart of Mary. The same year he sent his first mis¬ 
sionary to the negroes. The young congregation re¬ 
ceived new strength in 1848 by consolidation with the 
Society of the Holy Ghost. Father Libermann be¬ 
came first superior-general of the united societies and 
was commissioned to draw up new constitutions, but 
his earthly journey was nearing its end. Suffering 
remained his companion until the last. When he lay 
dying, the celebrated pulpit-orator, Father de Ravig- 
nan, said to a friend: “Come with me and we shall 
see how the saints die.” 

Shortly after his death there was a widespread de¬ 
sire to have the cause of his beatification introduced. 
After the usual diocesan tribunal, the depositions of 
witnesses and other documents were forwarded to the 
Sacred Congregation of Rites, and the introduction of 
the cause was unanimously decreed. The decree was 
immediately ratified by Pope Pius IX, who thus de¬ 
clared the holy convert from Judaism Venerable. 


A CONVERT FROM BUDAPEST 
William Alfred Rakos. 


William Alfred Rakos was born at Budapest of a 
wealthy Jewish merchant family. He studied in the 
commercial colleges of Hungary and Austria. When 
the war broke out in 1914 he was drafted as sub-lieu¬ 
tenant and was wounded in the very first attack that 
was made. He was cited for bravery, receiving a 
medal and the grade of lieutenant. When he recov¬ 
ered, his firm, the street railway company of Buda¬ 
pest, recalled him to take up his former position as 
head of one of their offices. After the war he came 
to America. He attended night school in order to im¬ 
prove his English and there met a (Catholic young 
lady. Their conversation frequently turned to reli¬ 
gion and she explained to him the truths of the Catho¬ 
lic Faith. Being serious-minded he readily grasped 
the doctrines presented and after a course of instruc¬ 
tion was received into the Church. He is now a good 
practical Catholic. 

God makes use of many ways to bring the “lost 
sheep of the tribe of Israel” into the true Fold. 


173 


ON A VISIT TO LOURDES 
Isaac Levi Snitkivski. 

Among the sick who visited Lourdes during Octo¬ 
ber, 1923, was a young Jew, Isaac Levi Snitkivski. 
He was born in Bessarabia and studied to be a rabbi. 
Then he became attracted to the Catholic religion. 

At this stage his family sent him to America, pass¬ 
ing him off as the son of a Jew living in the United 
States. After remaining here four years he returned 
to his home in Bessarabia, but his family gave him a 
very cold welcome and he departed for Paris. 

During the late war he enlisted in the Foreign 
Legion in Algeria. While stationed in Morocco he 
became acquainted with a Franciscan Father, the 
Chaplain of the Legion, and under him he studied the 
doctrines of the Catholic Church. The desire to dis¬ 
cover religious truth absorbed him even after his re¬ 
turn to Paris, and he often went to consult the priests 
in the parish in which he was living. 

Having become the victim of lung trouble, he de¬ 
sired to go to Lourdes. After many vain attempts he 
obtained a place in a hospital there. He had said: 

“If I am cured, I shall be converted.” 

While at Lourdes he attended the ceremonies of 
one of the big pilgrimages. One day, after the pro¬ 
cession of the Blessed Sacrament, he returned to the 
hospital deeply moved, saying: 

174 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 175 


“No, it is not for me to ask the Virgin for a sign. 
I shall first become a convert. The Virgin may then 
treat me as she pleases.” 

After receiving further religious instruction, Isaac 
Levi Snitkivski was baptized in the chapel of the 
Bernadette Hospital, taking the name of Marie Ber¬ 
nard. His godmother was the Superior of the Hospi¬ 
tal, and his godfather M. Rillarde Verneuil, deputy of 
the Department of Aisne in the French Chamber, who 
was in Lourdes at that time serving as a volunteer 
stretcher-bearer. 

On the morning after his Baptism, Snitkivski re¬ 
ceived his First Holy Communion, kneeling between 
his godmother and godfather. A few months later he 
was called to his Heavenly reward. 


A DOMINICAN SISTER 
Sister Stella (nee Cecilia Herman), 

New York City. 

The events that led to my conversion actually 
started when I was at school. While there I became 
very fond of one of my classmates and whenever 
possible we were together. Our parents approved of 
this friendship and did everything to encourage it. 
We were both of Jewish parents and religion had 
never been discussed between us. I was always re¬ 
ligiously inclined. On one occasion I preferred a 
severe punishment from my cousin rather than carry 
a book on Saturday, as carrying anything on the Sab¬ 
bath is contrary to the Orthodox Jewish law. 

On the solemn day of Atonement I went to my 
friend’s house to ask her to go to the synagogue with 
me. To my amazement I found that they were feast¬ 
ing instead of fasting. I was horrified and asked for 
an explanation. Her mother told me it was “in com¬ 
memoration of the throwing off of religious super¬ 
stition.” After that event, that family did everything 
possible to prove to me the superstition of religion. 
One day, during one of our arguments while they 
were trying to convince me that I was wrong, a man 
who was present told me to ask my father, who was 
considered quite a theologian, whom Adam’s sons 
married, assuring me that my father could not answer 
it. 


176 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 177 


I asked my father the question; I was then fourteen 
years of age, but he thought I was too young to ask 
such questions, and instead of answering me told me 
not to go to my friend’s any more and not to ask such 
questions. The mischief was accomplished. I 
thought that my father could not answer the question 
and that indeed there was no answer to it, and that 
religion was based, as those wise atheists told me, on 
myths and legends. 

Something had gone out of my life. I could not 
describe the feeling of loss. I gave up all religious 
practices. My dear father with all his knowledge and 
zeal for God could not do anything for me. I never 
told him what caused the change. I loved him too 
much to pain him. I had loved everything Jewish, 
the customs, ceremonies of the Feasts, especially the 
Passover, all had seemed to be part of me and they 
now became a mockery. As long as my father lived I 
went through them in a mechanical sort of way, but 
after his death I ceased even the external practice. 
I turned to books. For six years these were my 
steady companions. I read Scott, Dickens, Dante, 
Shakespeare, Balzac, Tolstoi, and a host of others. 
As I lived quite a distance from my work the two to 
three hours spent in the train each day were passed 
in reading. I searched for I knew not what. 

At the age of eighteen I met a Catholic lady—one of 
those quiet saints who live for others with no thought 
of self. My heart fills with love and gratitude when 
I think of her. One could read her noble soul in her 
open candid face. I saw that at a glance. To my sur¬ 
prise she seemed to be just as anxious for my friend¬ 
ship as I was for hers. She was twice as old as I and 


178 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


very motherly to me. I told her of my loss of faith 
and how I was spending all my energy looking for 
something I knew not what in books. She frowned 
when I told her that Tolstoi, Voltaire and like authors 
were the sources where I searched for knowledge, and 
suggested that I read “Ben Hur.” To please her I did. 

What an ocean of thought that book opened for me! 
For the first time I realized that far from being broad¬ 
minded as I often prided myself on being, I was 
very narrow. Never before had I given a favorable 
thought to Christianity. To me Christians who prac¬ 
tised their Faith were ignorant, while most of the more 
sensible class I thought paid no attention to religion. 
I now wanted to know something about Christ. The 
Blessed Mother, about whom I knew nothing, haunt¬ 
ed me. I felt that if I looked up I would see her. I 
did not dare to turn my head; she seemed near me all 
the time. 

After long deliberation I told my brother, who was 
an unbeliever like myself, of my intention of reading 
something about Christ according to the Christian 
point of view. He did not object, as he said: “All 
history is useful.” I asked my Catholic friend for 
some literature containing the life of Christ. She 
gave me the New Testament, and told me to read the 
Gospel of St. Luke. When I finished it my first im¬ 
pressions of the Christians seemed to be strengthened. 
I could not see how intelligent people could believe 
as they. The unexplained Gospel was queer to my 
prejudiced mind. I thought that I was satisfied with 
my knowledge of Christianity and gave up the idea 
of further search, but the Blessed Virgin again seemed 
to haunt me more than ever. I tried once more to in- 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 179 


quire about the Catholic religion, but this time my 
friend refused to aid me. She advised me to see a 
priest and ask him. The thought of even speaking 
to a priest was repulsive to me. The impressions 
made upon my mind by some of the books I had read 
regarding priests had not predisposed me to desire 
such an interview. I frankly told her so, and said I 
would never think of interviewing one. In her sweet 
way she told me not to talk religion to her as she 
would not discuss the subject with me unless I wished 
to see a priest. In her deep humility she thought she 
did not know enough to answer my objections. 

As peace of mind seemed to have gone since I could 
not get away from the feeling of nearness to the 
Blessed Mother (I would not seek now to get away 
from that holy presence if I were favored with it), I 
had no choice but to follow Miss O’s advice. One 
Sunday afternoon she took me to Holy Rosary Rec¬ 
tory, New York City, and introduced me to Father 
Reilly. How agreeably disappointed I was when I 
stood face to face with a Catholic priest! I could 
scarcely believe my eyes. He was just the opposite 
of what I dreaded to see. Before me stood an ordi¬ 
nary looking man, yet there was something about him 
that made me acknowledge that he was of a superior 
class. There was something holy about his very pres¬ 
ence. I owe next to God and the Blessed Virgin my 
salvation to him. His remarkable patience in answer¬ 
ing my questions and objections, his learning in clear¬ 
ing up some of my most difficult problems, the hours 
given me personally for instruction, were all a marvel 
to me. It was these added to Divine grace that finally 
brought me to the Master’s Feet. 


180 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


At my first visit Father gave me several books— 
a Catechism, the Life of Christ in story form, and the 
“Faith of Our Fathers.” I read these, then decided 
once more to leave the study alone. I was beginning 
to fear it, although the thought of becoming a Catholic 
never entered my mind. Even then I would have re¬ 
sented the very notion of such a step. Here again my 
faithful Mother interfered. The most remarkable 
part of it was that while I read the .Catholic literature 
and kept inquiring I never even thought of the 
Blessed Mother, but as soon as I stopped she never 
left me. I made two more attempts to give up the 
instructions with the same results. The Blessed 
Mother urged me on. I tried to resist even after the 
dawn of faith broke on the darkness of my unbelief. 
The thought of separation from those I loved almost 
maddened me, but God was stronger than the ties of 
earth and I knew I must choose between right and 
wrong and, of course, with the help of God I chose 
Him. 

I was baptized in Holy Rosary Church December 
2, 1908, by Rev. J. B. Reilly, who has gone to his 
reward since. That day was perhaps the saddest day 
in my life, for I felt that it was the knife that cut me 
from everything dear to me in this world. I decided 
not to tell my sisters and brother for a year, since I 
was only twenty I thought if my people suspected I 
was going for instructions they would be opposed. 
I feared that they might interfere with the practice 
of my religion. However, I was spared telling them, 
for my brother followed me to church one day and 
asked me if I had become a Catholic. Of course, I 
said “Yes.” 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 181 


Upon my return home I was ordered out of the 
house. I lived with my eldest brother, my parents 
being dead. As I had not the slightest idea where to 
go I told them that I would have to stay there until 
Friday, when I hoped to find some place to live. The 
following Tuesday brought my sister to our house. 
It was our first meeting since she had heard of my 
conversion. It would be impossible to describe the 
agonizing scene that followed. She threatened, 
pleaded, in a word did everything to get me to promise 
to give up the Catholic religion. When I refused she 
was almost out of her mind. She finally asked me if 
I would listen to a rabbi, and my promise to do so 
pacified her somewhat. When she left that evening 
the awful responsibility of having turned our former 
happy home into a house of weeping and mourning 
seemed more than I could bear. I implored the 
Blessed Virgin, who brought me to it, to help me 
restore our home to its former tranquility. 

As I lay there crying and praying everything 
seemed to vanish and I could only see the clear blue 
sky. I remember everything very vividly. I was sur¬ 
prised at the sudden change. I looked up and saw our 
Lord suspended in the air. He seemed to be trans¬ 
parent and of the same color as the sky. Some dis¬ 
tance behind Him was the cross of the same color and 
also transparent. I gazed stupefied for some time, 
then it seemed to grow darker and I saw the walls of 
my room. I understood by that, that our Lord 
wanted me to carry my cross. The calm that came 
over me was wonderful. I felt that I could stand any¬ 
thing after that. 

The following few days would have been unbear- 


182 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


able if it had not been for the Heavenly consolation. 
Friday I started to pack, in order to leave home, al¬ 
though I had not the slightest idea where to go. I 
did not dare go to Miss O’s home because my people 
had put all the blame of my conversion on her. My 
Jewish friends, I knew, would not have me and I 
hated the thought of a boarding house or an hotel, 
but somehow I felt the Lord would provide. As I 
put away the last few articles in my trunk, my sister- 
in-law, who had not spoken to me all week, threw her 
arms around me and begged me not to go, and my 
brother echoed her request. I was delighted to stay 
home. 

Their efforts to bring me back now took another 
form altogether, much harder to bear than the first, 
namely kindness. My sisters, brother and sister-in- 
law began to watch for my slightest wish in order to 
anticipate its gratification, but tears flowed in abun¬ 
dance with their entreaties to come back. For two 
years they continually strove to get me to give up 
my new Faith, until I took sick. When they saw me 
at death’s door their loving repentance and efforts to 
restore me to health were worthy of the strong love 
my dear ones had for me. 

On my recovery peace reigned once more in our 
home. Every one took my conversion now as a mat¬ 
ter of fact, but the Lord in His infinite mercy had 
more in store for me. I felt that I must return Him 
something for all the blessings He had bestowed on 
me, and I knew what He wanted—that I give myself 
entirely to Him by becoming a religious. This I did 
six years later. I was received in the Dominican 
Order and have spent ten happy years here. I had 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 183 


to pay a very great price to be among God’s chosen 
ones—namely the entire giving up of every tie of 
blood. God only knows how hard that was, but He 
has surely kept His promise by giving me the hun¬ 
dredfold in this life and I trust through His mercy 
to enjoy life everlasting with Him in Heaven. 


“Thou who of old didst love Thy hand to lay 
On the dull vacant eyes that craved for light, 
Behold, I come to Thee, and crying-, pray: 

O Christ, O Son of David, give me sight! 

“A faith scarce clouded by the mists of earth, 

A faith that pierceth Heaven I ask of Thee, 

Faith to prize all things by their lasting worth: 
Thou canst, Thou wilt. O Lord, that I may see!” 


184 


A PARTIAL LIST OF JEWS WHO HAVE 
BECOME CATHOLICS 


The following list contains the names of Jews who 
have embraced the Catholic religion. As will be seen, 
these professions of faith in Christ and His teachings 
are not restricted to any period of history, any section 
of the world, or any state of life. 

St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and the other 
Apostles. 

Nicodemus. 

Martha and, her sister, Mary. 

Lazarus. 

Joseph of Arimathea. 

The first acceptance of the Gospel by a great num¬ 
ber of Jews is thus recorded in the Acts of the 
Apostles: 

“When the days of Pentecost were accomplished, 
the disciples were all together in one place: 

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as 
of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole 
house where they were sitting. 

And there appeared to them parted tongues as it 
were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them. 

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
they began to speak with divers tongues, according 
as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. 

Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem, Jews, de¬ 
vout men, out of every nation under heaven. 

185 


186 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


And when this was noised abroad, the multitude 
came together, and were confounded in mind, because 
that every man heard them speak in his own tongue. 

And they were all amazed, and wondered, saying: 
Behold, are not all these, that speak, Galileans? 

And how have we heard, every man our own tongue 
wherein we were born? 

Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and inhabi¬ 
tants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus 
and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphilia, Egypt, and the 
parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, 
Jews also, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians; we 
have heard them speak in our own tongues the won¬ 
derful works of God. 

And they were all astonished, and wondered, say¬ 
ing one to another: ‘What meaneth this?’ But others 
mocking, said: ‘These men are full of new wine/ 

But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his 
voice, and spoke to them: ‘Ye men of Judea, and all 
you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known to you, 
and with your ears receive my words. For these men 
are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the 
third hour of the day. But this is that which was 
spoken of by the prophet Joel: 

And it shall come to pass in the last days, (saith 
the Lord,) I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, 
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and 
your young men shall see visions, and your old men 
shall dream dreams. And upon My servants indeed, 
and upon My handmaids will I pour out in those days 
of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy. .. .And it shall 
come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name 
of the Lord, shall be saved. 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 187 


Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Naz¬ 
areth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, 
and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him, in 
the midst of you, as you also know; 

This same being delivered up, by the determinate 
counsel and fore-knowledge of God, you by the hands 
of wicked men have crucified and slain. 

Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the sor¬ 
rows of hell, as it was impossible that He should be 
holden by it. For David saith concerning Him: 

‘I foresaw the Lord before my face; because He 
is at my right hand, that I may not be moved. For 
this my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath 
rejoiced; morever my flesh also shall rest in hope. 
Because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer 
Thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made 
known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me 
full of joy with Thy countenance/ (Ps- 15:8.) 

Ye men, brethren, let me freely speak to you of the 
patriarch David; that he died, and was buried; and 
his sepulchre is with us to this present day. Whereas 
therefore he was a prophet, and knew that ‘God had 
sworn to him with an oath, that of the fruit of his 
loins one should sit upon His throne/ (Ps. 131:11.) 

Foreseeing this, he spoke of the resurrection of 
Christ. ‘For neither was He left in hell, neither did 
His flesh see corruption/ (Ps. 15:10.) This Jesus 
hath God raised again, whereof all we are witnesses. 

Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God, 
and having received of the Father the promise of the 
Holy Ghost, He hath poured forth this which you see 
and hear. 

For David ascended not into heaven; but he him- 


188 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


self said: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on 
my right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy foot¬ 
stool.’ (Ps. 109:1.) 

Therefore let all the house of Israel know most 
certainly, that God hath made both Lord, and Christ, 
this same Jesus, whom you have crucified. 

Now when they had heard these things, they had 
compunction in their heart, and said to Peter, and to 
the rest of the Apostles: 

‘What shall we do, men and brethren?’ 

But Peter said to them: 

‘Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in 
the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your 
sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
For the promise is to you, and to your children, and 
to all that are afar off, whomsoever the Lord our God 
shall call.’ 

And with very many other words did he testify and 
exhort them, saying: 

‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.' 

They therefore that received his word, were bap¬ 
tized; and there were added in that day about three 
thousand souls. (Acts 11:1-41.) ' 

St. Paul — Saul of Tarsus — who had been a per¬ 
secutor of the first Christians. 

SS. Aquila and Priscilla (or Prisca) of Corinth 
(Acts 18:26). 

St. Apollo (Acts 18:24; 19:1), who became second 
Bishop of Corinth. 

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, 
“with all his house” (Acts 18:8). 

Caius, Stephanus and his household, and the houses 
of Fortunatus and Achaicus (1 Cor 16:15). 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 189 


Joseph, surnamed Barnabas, a Levite of Cyprus 
(Acts 4:36). 

Ananias, a disciple at Damascus (Acts 9:10). 

John, surnamed Mark, a Levite (Acts 12:12). 

Simon, who was called Niger (Acts 13:1). 

Lucius of Cyrene (Acts 13:1). 

Manahen, the foster brother of Herod (Acts 13:1). 

Sosthenes, ruler of the synagogue (Acts 18:17). 

Apollo, a Jew of Alexandria, residing at Ephesus 
(Acts 18:24). 

Philip, the Evangelist, and his four daughters (Acts 
21:8, 9). 

Timothy, son of the Jewess Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5). 

Five thousand men believed (Acts 4:4). 

Multitudes of men and women believed in the Lord 
(Acts 5:14). 

The number of disciples were increased (Acts 6:1). 

The number of disciples were multiplied in Jeru¬ 
salem (Acts 6:7). 

A great multitude also of the priests believed (Acts 
6:7). 

Adler, Miss Carrie, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Alfonso, de Zamora, a Spanish rabbi, was baptized 
in 1506. He gave valuable assistance to Cardinal 
Ximenes in compiling his Polyglot Bible, and died in 
1531. (|Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. I, p. 309.) 

Alfonsus, Petrus, 1062 (born Moses Sephardi), was 
converted on St. Peter’s day, 1106, and died in 1110. 
King Alfonsus I of Aragon, whose physician-in-ordi¬ 
nary he became, stood sponsor at his Baptism. As his 
conversion was attributed by his former co-religion¬ 
ists to ulterior motives, he published a famous reply 
in twelve dialogues, frequently re-edited. 


190 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Angress, Mr. H., London, England. 

Aronson, Edward, New York City (1921). 

Baker, Mrs. Laura M., Redlands, Harpsden, Henley- 
on-Thames, England. 

♦Baroness Franchetti, and son. 

Battista, Giovanni Giuda Giona (originally Jehuda 
Jona Ben-Isaac), was born in 1558. As he was a rabbi, 
his conversion created a sensation. In later years he 
taught Hebrew and Aramaic at the Academy of Pisa 
and then at the Propaganda in Rome. His principal 
literary work was the translation of the Gospels from 
Latin into Hebrew, which were published with a pre¬ 
face by Pope Clement IX. 

Benziger, Mrs. Gertrude Lytton, wife of August 
Benziger, the painter. 

Bertha, Princess, wife of Prince Alexander, Duke de 
Wagram, and her sister, the Duchess of Gramont. 
Daughters of Baron Charles de Rothschild, banker of 
Frankfort, Germany. 

♦Brother Anthony, Society of the Atonement, Gray- 
moor, N. Y. 

Brunini, Mrs. John (nee Blanche Stein), Vicksburg, 
Miss. (1895.) 

Burke, Mrs. Martin E. (nee Frances Galicenstein), 
New York City (1903). 

Carper, Mr. A., Galveston, Texas. (Deceased.) 

Cassel, Sir Ernest, the great Jewish financier of 
London, who died in September, 1921. In his will he 
directed that his funeral be held at the Jesuit Church 
in Farm Street. He was a close friend of King 
Edward VII. 

An asterisk * before a name indicates that the narrative of 
this person’s conversion will be found in the body of the book. 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 191 


♦Cohen, Rev. Hermann, Hamburg, Germany. 

Cohen, Julius, New York City. 

Connair, Mrs. John, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

♦Davidsohn, Miss Ernestine M., New York City. 

de Forest, Lord, London, England (born Maurice 
Arnold BishofTsheim), adopted son and heir of the 
great Baron Hirsch. 

de Graffenreil, Baron, Leo, Paris. Born in New 
York. 

de Spina, Alfonso. After his conversion he entered 
the Franciscan Order. For many years he was super¬ 
ior of the house of studies of the Friars Minor at 
Salamanca, in Spain, and in 1491 was created Bishop 
of Thermopylae in Greece. He was a man of great 
learning and a renowned preacher. His chief title to 
fame was the “Fortalitium Fidei. ,, (Catholic En¬ 
cyclopedia Vol. 14; p. 216.) 

de Lemos, Misses Henrietta and Emilie, and their 
brother William, New York City. 

de Mannstein, Dr. Gabriel Henner, Bromberg, Po¬ 
land. 

♦Dembo, Miss Minnie Cecilia, New York City. (De¬ 
ceased.) 

de Ponte, Lorenzo, (originally Emmanuel Conegli- 
ano), was born in 1749 and died in 1838. When he was 
fourteen years of age his father and all the members 
of his family were baptized in the Cathedral of Ceneda, 
Italy. The Bishop, Lorenzo de Ponte, seeing the 
talents of the boy, gave him his own name and sent 
him to the diocesan seminary to be educated for a 
literary career. After teaching in the University of 
Treviso, and writing for Mozart the librettos of the 
operas “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Don Giovanni” and 


192 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


“Cosi Fan Tutti,” he went to London and later emi¬ 
grated to New York, where he taught Italian and was 
connected with Columbia University. He was the 
first teacher in America to lecture on Dante's “Divina 
Commedia.” 

de Wolfe, Louis P., Chicago, Ill. 

Dolan, Miss Alicia, New York City. (1923.) 

Drach, David Paul, was born in 1791 and died in 
1868. He was baptized by Archbishop Quelen, in 
Paris, on Holy Saturday, 1823, with his two daughters 
and son. As he enjoyed the highest esteem as an 
author and a learned rabbi, his conversion produced 
a profound impression on all active and earnest minds 
of the rising generation and incited them to the study 
of the more serious problems of life. His endeavors to 
lead his co-religionists to the living fountain of truth, 
to the acknowledgment of Jesus as the real and true 
Messias, crystallized in numerous writings and were 
blessed by God. “Many converts trace their conver¬ 
sion to the influence of Drach’s example.” (Scheid.) 
(Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 5, p. 152.) 

Drach, Paul Augustin, 1817-1895, son of the preced¬ 
ing, was baptized in 1823. He studied for the priest¬ 
hood at the Propaganda College in Rome, and was 
ordained there in 1846. For many years he was a 
Canon of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. As a Biblical 
exegete he held an important place, and to him we are 
indebted for a large commentary in French. (Catholic 
Encyclopedia Vol. 5, p. 152.) 

*Eichenberg, Mrs, Charles, East Orange, N. J. 

Eichenberg, Eugene, son of above. 

Elkin, Miss Blanche, Good Shepherd nun, Boston, 
Mass. 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 193 


Engle, Mr. Alexander, New York City. 

Ewe, Robert, Lacrosse, Wis. (Deceased.) 

♦Fanning, Mrs. J. P., (nee Fannie Guggenheim), 
New York City. 

♦Farkas, Sophie, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Fellner, Miss Julia Marie, was baptized March 3, 
1895, at St. Francis Xavier’s Church, New York City. 
She later became a religious. Her sisters also em¬ 
braced the Catholic Faith. 

Felton, Samuel, New York t City (1921). (Deceased.) 

Fox, Rev. Wm. A. (son of Prof. Wm. B. Fox), 
Church of St. Jean Baptiste, New York City. 

Fox, Prof. Wm. B., B. Sc., Professor of Physics, 
College of the City of New York. 

Frank, Mr. Gus, Chicago, Ill. 

♦Gilbert, Gladys E., New York City. 

Goldberg, Eliz., New York City. (1922.) 

Goldberg, Harold, East Orange, N. J. 

♦Goldstein, David, ex-Socialist, author and lec¬ 
turer, Boston, Mass. 

Goldstein, Isaac and Rebecca, and family, Balti¬ 
more, Md. 

♦Goldstein, Rose Mary, Newark, N. J. (1920.) 

♦Goodman, Anna C., Dorchester, Mass., (1913) and 
her sister. 

Goschler, Rev. Isidore, was born in 1804 at Stras- 
burg, where he became a barrister. He attended the 
lectures on philosophy of M. Bautain. He embraced 
the Catholic Faith in 1827 with his fellow-student, 
Jules Lewel, and became Professor of Philosophy at 
Besancon. He was ordained priest at Strasburg in 
1830 and later became Director of the College Stan¬ 
islas in Paris, in which city he died in June, 1866. 


194 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Greenspahn, Mr. A. H., Chicago, Ill. (1918.) 

Haas, Joe Samuel, formerly of (Cordelia, Cal. 

Hagan, Joseph von, and wife, Rebecca. 

Harte, Bret, Jr., son of Bret Harte, the novelist. 
Grandson of Bret Harte, of the New York Stock Ex¬ 
change. 

Heck, Bertha, New York City. (1913.) 

Heil, Mrs. Regina, New York City. (1919.) 

Held, Anna, the French actress, was received into 
the Church prior to her death. 

*Henschel, Joseph E., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

*Hepner, Rev. Martin G., C.SS.R., St. Mary's 
College, North East, Pa. (1899.) 

Hertel, Mr. M. J., New York City. 

Higgins, Mrs. J. J., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Hines, Mrs. Jos. H., Atlanta, Ga. 

Hirsch and Lehmann, the painters. 

Hoffsugoth, Rev. Jacob, C. P. (Deceased.) He was 
pastor of St. Michael's Church, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Hyams, Miss, London. 

Isaacs, Alfred Joseph (1913), Pittsburgh, Pa. (De¬ 
ceased.) 

Isaacs, Andrew, and his wife Rebecca, Kingston, 
Jamaica. (Deceased.) 

*Jackson, Miss Lillian Mary, Chicago, Ill. (1912*) 

Joseph, Count, of Scythopolis, an important person¬ 
age in the reign of Constantine. In thanksgiving for 
his conversion he built the first church at Tiberias, 
and one at Capharnaum, where Jesus had chosen His 
first disciples. 

Kahn, Herman, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

*Kavanaugh, Mrs. Theodore (nee Lillie Marks), 
New York (City. 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 195 


Kayser, A. S., formerly a rabbi, and late of Worth¬ 
ington, Ohio. 

Keiley, Mrs., wife of Judge A. M. Keiley, Judge of 
the International Court at Cairo. 

Klacko, Julian, was born in 1825 and died in 1906. 
After taking the doctor’s degree in 1847 at the Uni¬ 
versity of Konigsberg he went to Heidelberg to con¬ 
tinue his studies under Gervinus, who appointed him 
a collaborator on the “Deutsche Zeitung,” a periodi¬ 
cal for Russian and Polish affairs. “He was by far 
the most powerful intellect and the most brilliant 
writer of Poland during the latter half of the nine¬ 
teenth century.” (Tarnowski.) (Catholic Encyclo¬ 
pedia Vol. 8, p. 665.) 

*Klyber, Andrew B., Kirkwood, Mo. (1920.) 

Kohn, The Most Rev. Dr., Prince Archbishop of 
Olmutz, Bohemia. 

Kronold, Madame Selma, the New York singer. 
(Deceased.) 

Lahr, Mrs. Mollie, Newark, N. J. (1885.) (De¬ 
ceased.) 

Lamm, Abraham Hamilton, Chicago, Ill. (1917.) 
(Deceased.) 

*Lazarus, Adah, New York City. (Deceased.) 

Lemann, Joseph, and brother, Augustin, of France. 
They both became priests. 

Lendefeld, Miss, Poland. 

Lesser, Miss Bertha, New York City. (1922.) 

Le Vasseur, Mrs. Julia Mary, Roxbury, Mass. 

Le Vay, Milton Felix Joseph, Woodhaven, L. I. 
(1917.) 

Levi, Mary Ruth, (Chicago, Ill. (1904.) 

Levy, Bertha, New York City. (1913.) 


196 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Levy, Father, Dominican priest, who gave his life 
for the Faith in Mesopotamia. 

Levy, Mr. Harry, Superintendent of a department 
in the City Hospital, Boston, Mass. (1908.) 

Levy, Miss Minnie, Philadelphia, Pa. (Deceased.) 

Levy, Miss Rosalie Marie, was baptized August 14, 
1912, the eve of the Feast of the Assumption, at St. 
Aloysius’ Church, Washington, D. C. 

Lewel, Rt. Rev. Jules, who was born in Nancy in 
1801. He studied philosophy at Strasburg under 
M. Bautain and was baptized a Catholic in 1827. He 
was ordained priest in 1829 and later was appointed 
Apostolic Protonotary and Rector of St. Louis in 
Rome, in which city he died in October, 1870. 

Lewel, Rev. Nestor, brother of Jules Lewel. 

*Libermann, Father Francis Mary Paul (born 
Jacob), Alsace, France. 

Libermann, Samson, and his wife, Alsace, France. 

Loeb, Robert E., New Orleans, La. 

Luckhardt, Chas., Chicago, Ill. (1915.) 

Lyons, Mrs. James F. (nee Bertha Raden), Chicago, 
Ill. (1922.) 

McKenney, Mrs. Peter (nee Sylvia Cohen), New 
York City. 

Mandel, Miss Irma, Milwaukee, Wis. (1901.) Set¬ 
tlement worker. 

Marchioness, The, of Villa Hermosa. 

Marcus, Benjamin. Rabbinical scholar; author of 
“Kur Hayem,” etc. 

Markman, Milton H. J., Chicago, Ill. (1909.) 

Marks, Sidney S., Manhattan Beach, L. I. 

Mayer, Rose, Chicago, Ill. (1897.) 

Mendelssohn, Dorothea, was born in 1765 and died 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 197 


in 1839. She was the daughter and eldest child of 
Moses Mendelssohn, the philosopher, and aunt of the 
renowned composer, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. 
By her first marriage, to a Jew named Simon Veit, 
she had two sons, the younger of whom, Philip, fol¬ 
lowed his mother into the Catholic Church. Dorothea 
married, secondly, the brilliant Friedrich Schlegel in 
1808, becoming at the time a Protestant. Two years 
later they both became Catholics. Dorothea’s later 
years were spent with her husband and sons at Rome 
and finally at Frankfort-on^the-Main. This gifted 
woman was a novelist and litterateure in general, 
musical, and famed for her repartee. 

Mendelssohn, Henrietta, sister of Dorothea, con¬ 
ducted a boarding school in Paris. At first she was 
bitterly opposed to Catholicism, but through the edi¬ 
fying example of one of her pupils, Fanny Sebastiani 
(subsequently the Duchess de Choiseul-Praslin), she 
entered the Church about 1813. 

Mergentheim, Rev. Leo, J. U. D. (Bonn Univer¬ 
sity.) Priest of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany. 
Son of a Jewish banker in Chicago, Ill. 

Meyer, Arthur, director of Le Gaulois, a Paris 
daily. He was the son of Rabbi Meyer of Le Havre. 
He became a Catholic a few years before the war and 
died Feb. 2, 1924, at the age of eighty years. 

Meyers, Jerry, Fort Wayne, Ind. 

Meyers, Maurice, Brooklyn, N. Y. (1922.) 

Mickle, Mrs. Elizabeth Etting, wife of Robert 
Mickle of Philadelphia, Pa; member of the famous 
Etting family of merchants and bankers of Philadel¬ 
phia and Baltimore. 

Miller, Paul, Detroit, Mich. (1903.) 


198 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Monaco, The Princess of, born Alice Heine, New 
Orleans, La., daughter of the wealthy Jewish banker 
and grand-niece of the poet Heine. 

Morris, Simon, Washington, D. C. (1914.) 

Mother Lucie (formerly Madame Marx Mayer) and 
Mother Marie (formerly Madame Pierre Franck) were 
baptized on May 1, 1843. They served for more than 
sixty years as religious in the Congregation of Notre 
Dame de Sion. 

Nathan, Mr. F., Philadelphia, Pa. (Deceased.) 

Nathan, the Misses, daughters of Grand Master 
Nathan of the Italian Free Masons. 

Neiss, Mrs. Otto, and daughter, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Netter, Blanche, daughter of Grand Rabbi Netter of 
Metz. She later became a Carmelite nun. 

Netto, His Eminence Sebastian Cardinal, O. F. M. 
Patriarch of Lisbon. 

Neuberger, John, Chicago, Ill. (1901.) 

Newfield, Sigmund Francis, Chicago, Ill. (1905.) 

Novak, Mrs. John W., (nee Gertrude Goodman), 
Pittsburgh, Pa. (1924.) 

*Nussbaum, Nettie, New York City. (Deceased.) 

O’Brien, Mrs. Sophie Raffalovich, London. Novel¬ 
ist. 

Olmer Abbe, priest, whose entire family followed 
him into the Church, two of his sisters entering the 
religious state. 

Passovich, Mrs. M. C. E., New York City. She was 
baptized in the Immaculate Conception ,Church, New 
Orlenas, La., in May, 1922. 

Paul of Burgos (born Solomon Ha-Levi), a Spanish 
Archbishop, lord chancellor and exegete, was born at 
Burgos about 1351 and died on August 29, 1435. He 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 199 


was the most wealthy and influential Jew of Burgos, a 
rabbi and scholar of the first rank in Talmudic and 
rabbinical literature. The irresistible logic of the 
Summa of St. Thomas led him to become a Catholic. 
He received Baptism on July 2, 1390. His brothers 
Pedro Suarez and Alvar Garcia, together with his 
daughter and four boys were baptized with him. 
(Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 11, p. 588.) 

Pearlman, Michael, Cleveland, Ohio. (1917.) 

Pearlman, Rachel, Milwaukee, Wis. (1923.) 

Pfefferkorn, Johannes, was born in 1469. He em¬ 
braced Catholicism in 1505 at Cologne, together with 
his wife and children, and died in 1522. His efforts 
to convert his former co-religionists were unceasing. 

Plantou, Dr. Anthony, of Philadelphia, Pa., was 
born in France towards the end of the eighteenth 
century. Author of “Observations on Yellow Fever,” 
etc. 

Polonnais, M. Editor of the Paris “Gaulois.” (1902.) 

Price, Leo Joseph, New York City. (1909.) (De¬ 
ceased.) 

Raffalovich, Andre Sebastian, London. Poet and 
essayist. 

*Rakos, Wm. Alfred. Born at Budapest of a 
wealthy Jewish family. 

*Ratisbonne, Father Marie Theodore, Strasburg, 
Germany. 

*Ratisbonne, Father Marie Alphonse, Strasburg, 
Germany. 

*Rau, Miss Rose Mary, New York City. (1906.) 

Rogers, Mrs. John N. (nee Margaret Mary Gross), 
Westhampton, L. I. 

Rosenberg, Henry Joseph, Brooklyn, N. Y. (1914.) 


200 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


*Rosenberg, Samuel, New York City. (1922.) 

Rosenbluth, Charlotte, New York City. (1905.) 

*Rosenfeld, Rev. Hilary, O. S. B. Priest of the 
Diocese of Leavenworth, Kansas. Son of a Bohemian 
rabbi. 

♦Rothschild, Simon S., Chicago, Ill. (Deceased.) 

Rubenstein, Max, Southbridge, Mass. 

Rubenstein, Rudolph, Brooklyn, N. Y. (Deceased.) 

Ruthburg, Hattie, New York City. (1921.) 

Samuel, Madame Ermance, and children, Strasburg. 
(1845.) 

Sangerson Mme. (daughter of Mme. Walch), Lyons, 
France. 

Schaffel, Rev. Paul, D.D. Priest of the Archdiocese 
of Milwaukee, Wis. 

Schattman, Edward, New York City. (1921.) 

Schlesinger, Anna, Chicago, Ill. (1899.) 

♦Schlesinger, Mrs. Geo., and two children, Brooklyn, 
N. Y. (1914.) 

Schlopper, Myles, New York City. 

Schwartz, Edna, New York City. (1918.) 

Silverman, Mr. H. A., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Simonson, John, Chicago, Ill. 

Singer, Frank, New York City. (1923.) 

Sinton, Harold, New York ;City. 

♦Sister M. Aquin, Milwaukee, Wis. (1918.) 

♦Sister M. Philip, Milwaukee, Wis., sister of the 
above. (1918.) 

Sister St. Ignatius (nee Levy), Marysville, Cal. 
(Deceased.) . 

Sister Josephine, Rome, Italy. 

♦Sister Stanislaus (nee Priscilla Cohen) of New Or¬ 
leans, La. (Died 1914.) All of her family, with the 


WHY JEWS BECOME .CATHOLICS 201 


exception of her father, embraced the Catholic Faith 
after her conversion. 

*Sister Stella (nee Cecilia Hermann), of New York 
City. (1908.) 

♦Snitkivski, Isaac Levi, Paris. (1922.) (Deceased.) 

Soellner, Mr. L. H., Pitsburgh, Pa. 

Solomon, A. P. Jr., Savannah, Ga. 

♦Solomon, Walter M., Cleveland, Ohio. (1918.) 

Souhami, Mrs., her two daughters, and son, a Bene¬ 
dictine monk. 

Spellman, Mrs. Bernice (nee Goldstein), San Fran¬ 
cisco, Cal. (1920.) (Deceased.) 

Stern, Henry, Milltown, N. J. (1916.) 

Strauss, Max, Cleveland, O. 

♦Stryker, Mrs. M., and three sons. New York City. 

Summerfield, Mr. Scorton, England. 

Sunshine, Mr. I. N., Cleveland, O. 

Susman, Mr., and two daughters, London, England. 

Telfer, Vera (B.A.), London, England. 

Tully, Mrs. Edward (nee Florence Wolf), Brooklyn, 
N. Y. 

Unger, Arthur, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Veit, Rev. James. Priest of the Archiocese of New 
York. (Deceased.) 

Veit, Philip, was born in 1793 and died in 1877. He 
was the son of Dorothea Mendelssohn and was bap¬ 
tized in 1810. He became one of the leaders of the 
Romanticist school of painting, and was the best pupil 
of Overbeck and Cornelius at Rome, First, he di¬ 
rected the Stadel Institute at Frankfort, making it 
one of the chief centers of German Romantic art. 
Later he accepted a call as director at Mainz. His 
art lectures have been edited by Kaufmann. 


202 WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 


Veith, Johann Emmanuel, was born in 1787 and died 
in 1876. He was famous both as a physician and 
preacher. Before his conversion he was director of 
the school of veterinary medicine at Vienna, and 
author of a valuable compendium in two volumes of 
veterinary surgery, and an outline of botanical medi¬ 
cine. After his Baptism in 1816 he turned to theology 
and was ordained in 1821. He became a Redemptorist 
and for forty-two years served as a priest at Maria 
Stiegen and the Cathedral at Vienna. “He never 
made use of the arts of secular orators to create a 
sensation; least of all did he wish to be a fashionable 
preacher.... Priests, scholars, literary men, artists, 
and students came with eagerness to hear him pro¬ 
claim the word of God.” (Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 
15, p. 322.) 

Walch, Madame B., Lyons, France. 

*Walch, Jacques, Lyons, France. (1918.) 

Waley, Major, and two children. England. 

Weill, Samuel, New York City. (1923.) (De¬ 
ceased.) 

Weite, Mrs. Jos., Bronxville, N. Y. 

Weitz, Morris, New York City. 

Werthheim, Sol., Cedarhurst, N. Y. 

Wolf, Isaac, Memphis, Tenn. 

Woods, Mrs. H. (nee Henrietta Abrams), Brooklyn, 
N. Y. 

Wiirmser, Madame, of Hungary. She was baptized 
Nov. 7, 1842, in Paris, with her two daughters Elisa 
and Anna. Elisa changed her name to Alphonsine 
and later became a religious of Notre Dame de Sion. 

Zawojski, Liban, Poland. 

In 1921 forty-nine Jews were baptized in the chapel 


WHY JEWS BECOME CATHOLICS 203 


of the religious of Our Lady of Sion, Budapest, and 
one hundred others were receiving catechetical in¬ 
struction. 

The Baptismal registers in the churches of all large 
cities contain the names of many Jews who have 
embraced the Catholic Faith. In one church alone in 
New York City there are fifty-seven such names. As 
these are private records, we are unable to use the 
names without the consent of the persons concerned. 
Very often to publish that a Jew has become a Cath¬ 
olic would cause a good deal of comment among rela¬ 
tives and acquaintances. This naturally makes some 
people reluctant about announcing the fact, though 
there is not the slightest doubt of their loyal adher¬ 
ence to the Catholic religion. 


The author will be grateful to readers who will 
send her the names and addresses of converts from 
Judaism, as well as detailed sketches suitable for in¬ 
sertion in a subsequent volume. 


a. m. i.«. 


“THE HEAVENLY ROAD” 

By ROSALIE MARIE LEVY 
14 East 29th Street 
New York, N. Y. 


Dear Miss Levy: 


Rome, June 27, 1924. 


At a private audience this morning I presented your 
book—“The Heavenly Road”—to the Holy Father, telling 
him about yourself and your work. He manifested the 
deepest interest and made several inquiries about you. 
He looked through the book carefully, expressed his 
pleasure at seeing it was already the fourth edition and 
the twelfth thousand, and promised me that he would 
read it. He was much pleased to know of your work 
and prayers for the conversion of your poeple, and asked 
me to tell you of his cordial approval and paternal 
blessing. 

Most sincerely yours, 

)J( C. Van de Ven 

(Rt. Rev. Cornelius Van de Ven is Bishop of Alex¬ 
andria, La.) 


“Your little book ‘The Heavenly Road’ seems to me 
very well adapted to attract the attention and solicit 
the confidence of those numerous children of Israel who 
still wander amid the obscurities of faith and hope 
from which Jesus Christ has so happily called us into 
the light and the warmth of His Gospel.” (Rt. Rev. 
Thomas J. Shahan, D.D., Catholic University, Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., April 29, 1923.) 


“This is the book par excellence to give a prospective 
convert from Judaism. Miss Levy is herself a convert and 
gifted not only with a facile and charming literary style, 
but she is able also to enter into and sympathize with 
the psychology of her people.” (The Lamp, July, 1923.) 


“Miss Levy tells the story of her own conversion 
simply, and then points out how all the Jewish prophe¬ 
cies concerning the Messias were fulfilled in Jesus of 
Nazareth, and in the Church which He founded to take 
the place of the Synagogue. The author would like to 





see this book in the hands of every serious and inquiring 
Jew in the country. The book certainly deserves wide 
circulation for this purpose, since the arguments in favor 
of the Church are very ably presented.” ( Sentinel of the 
Blessed Sacrament, August, 1923.) 


“Since genuine Catholics, ensouled with the ambition 
to spread the faith cannot remain indifferent about the 
thousands of Jews surrounding them on all sides, have 
very little literature suitable for this class of prospective 
converts, we can do no better than recommend this 
splendid, convincing and orthodox booklet which is 
written in a really captivating way. It might well serve 
as a model for a great many other brief expositions of 
the faith intended for Jews.” ( Rosary Magazine, Sep¬ 
tember, 1923.) 


“An exceptionally interesting brochure is ‘The Heav¬ 
enly Road/ by Rosalie Marie Levy, a convert from 
Judaism. It bears the imprimatur of Cardinal Gibbons, 
and an appreciative foreword from Father Walter Drum, 
S. J. The author’s purpose is to reach not only such 
Christians as are still seeking for religious guidance, 
but even Jews and unbelievers.” ( The Ave Maria, 
March 22, 1919.) 


“ ‘The Heavenly Road’ shows how the Messianic 
prophecies of the Jewish Scriptures are fulfilled in our 
Lord; it proves His Divinity, explains His mission, and 
shows that none of the Protestant churches can be the 
Church Christ founded. ‘The Heavenly Road’ is a good 
book to give prospective converts from Judaism, who 
make admirable Catholics.” ( America, April 19, 1919.) 


“The line of argument in ‘The Heavenly Road/ though 
not new for the educated Catholic, takes on, as it is 
here unfolded, the freshness and charm that always 
accompany simplicity of faith and sincerity of con¬ 
viction. Catholics as well as non-Catholics will be the 
better and the wiser for having perused these pages. 
May it not be hoped, too, that the author’s former co¬ 
religionists may gain from the same source the light to 
see and the strength to follow the Heavenly Road Miss 
Levy so clearly points out to them?” (Ecclesiastical 
Review, April, 1919.) 


“Persons who would refresh their knowledge of 
Biblical history acquired in school and Sunday school, 
may read ‘The Heavenly Road’ with pleasure and profit. 
(The Baltimore Catholic Review, April 12, 1919.) 







“The whole spirit of ‘The Heavenly Road’ is an in¬ 
tensive disclosure of the character of our Blessed Re¬ 
deemer, not only as the Son of the Living God hut also 
as the perfection of our manhood in all its gifts of 
nature and of grace. The hook has already reached a 
sale of many thousands of copies. It should be at the 
disposal of every zealous priest and layman. Every 
pastor of souls feels it a reproach unless he has a 
goodly yearly list of converts from Protestantism and 
infidelity. But why should he not have at least some 
Hebrew converts? Miss Levy has provided the means of 
many conversions to the Church by ‘The Heavenly 
Road.’” (The Missionary, October, 1923.) 














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